Jewson’s niche at Hillington
01/02/2010
For Brian Gerrard, for the past four years the manager of the Jewson building supplies chain’s Hillington premises on Carnegie Road, it’s been a little frustrating.
“We’re somewhat off the beaten track,” he says, though he acknowledges that the striking dark blue colour of much of the depot’s external cladding is easily seen from passing trains.
At a time when the building trade has experienced a downturn, it’s important for Mr Gerrard that Jewson’s potential customers know where they can be found – and why they should beat a path to their doors!
“We’ve tried to address the issue by creating our own niche,” he says. “We are now the only Jewson branch to carry a stock of drainage supplies – pipes of all kinds, plastic and clay, jointing systems to fit them and exotic plastic ground filtration units to sort out those stubborn drainage problems.”
The Hillington store, with its capacious stockyard and parking space, also caters for a wider public demand, carrying stocks of landscaping items, including fencing, paving slabs and monobloc systems.
Naturally, the trade counter also supplies bricks, blocks, timber and insulation products, as well as tools and consumables – everything, in fact, that you might find at other Jewson stores. Only it’s all available, here at Hillington!
The local store already supplies its materials to a range of other Hillingtonbased companies, including William Crawford, the Brick & Steel Company and DCS.
“There was definitely a dip as the recession took hold,” says Mr Gerrard. “But it’s steadied out over the last six months, and it’s becoming busier through the door and on the phone.
“Just remember – you don’t need to go elsewhere: it’s all here in Carnegie Road.”
Contact: Brian Gerrard, 0141 882 6045
