A Portadown tool shop is hosting an up to 60% sale, with reductions on all items, in their bid to create an experience for their customers not available anywhere else.
Entering any hardware store can be daunting for a novice but the staff at ML Tools in Portadown are sure to make you feel welcome with expert advice to all queries.
The family business, which is owned by husband and wife, Robbie and Terry Nellins, along with their sons Sam and Jordan, has been established in the area for over thirty years, with the family taking the helm eight years ago.
But with an ever-changing market, speaking to Armagh I, Sam announced that they would be hosting a sale to clear the decks in order to make way for a new era.
“Over the last year – maybe 18 months – we have been looking for secondary premises in places such as Tandragee, Markethill and Armagh but none of them have really worked out,” explained Sam.
The family then decided to tap into some space they already have in the form of a store, opposite their shop, to achieve their dream of a customer experience, they believe, not currently available in this country.
“My vision is a tool shop like no other,” explained Sam, “that is the reason for the sale, we need to clear the decks and get as much stuff shifted so that we can begin to work on it.”
In fact, the store is so full that in the clear-out Sam came across some items which many in the trade cannot even come by at the minute.
“Something so simple,” he said. “I found a box of coping saw blades, they have been unavailable in the UK for most of last year, we had about 100 of them. I think we are probably the only store in the UK with them.”
Ideas for the store, which is three times the size of their current first floor, include display models and a demonstration station.
“It will give end users the chance to try out new tools on the market. I get to do that at supplier shows but that is something of an opportunity that is available only at trade shows.”
With all these new ideas flowing, the family will not be waving goodbye to the current premises any time soon, with a few ideas in mind for a reinvention there.
“It will be used as a store for the first few months, but we do not want it to remain that way as it is too good a building for that…. One of the ideas is to introduce more work wear and outdoor gear,” Sam said.
Previous sales before Christmas allowed the business to get rid of a lot of overstock, with some travelling from as far as Ballymena for the savings but this time is a little different.
“I mean a lot of the current stock we will be selling in the sale is going to be re-stocked, but we just need to make the space initially in order to arrange and organise this new store,” admitted Sam.
Savings will be up to 60%, with most items seeing reductions of 30-35%, with Sam stating, “the minimum reduction on sale items will be 10%, that will be on our professional power tools, the premium brands of Milwaukee and De Walt.”
The sale runs from Thursday to Saturday, February 17-19.
Check out the ML Tools website here, or check them out on Facebook here.
