Stoke on Trent has a new DIY shop, and the Mica cooperative group of DIY independents has a new member, with the opening of Shelton Mica DIY & Home.
Shelton Mica, on Sun Street in Shelton, is run by husband-and-wife team Mazhar & Waheeda Qureshi, who ran a convenience store locally for 17 years before opening a shop last March selling a range of DIY, household & Asian giftware products. However, the quiet location and the Qureshis' limited ability to do cost-effective advertising meant sales were slow.

At this point, they did some research online and visited other Mica stores in the West Midlands, and followed that up with a meeting with Mica retail development manager Robin Page.

They then took the decision to join the cooperative, with Mica adding a wider range of DIY and home products to the store, covering painting and decorating, ironmongery and tools. Mica also added services, including gas bottle exchange, key cutting and paint mixing. The finishing touches included new shopfittings and signage.

When asked why he had decided to join Mica rather than continuing alone, Mr Qureshi said: "Our independence is very important to us, and with Mica we get the best of both worlds. With the group we can get great group rate pricing on a wide range of different suppliers to pass onto my customers, access to all the biggest brands, support and advice from other retailers and the head office, but in the end I still make my own buying decisions. I can react instantly to customer needs, something the large multiples cannot do.

"With Mica's support we've been able to re-vamp our store and make the store a professional-looking business. The marketing support, including special offers for customers and a new website provided for us, will definitely make our sales grow - and let the local people know who we are, where we are, and what we are."

Robin Page added: "After visiting the store I could see it had a lot of potential -there were a lot of ways Mica could help them. I'm delighted with the finished look of the store; I think it will be a strong asset to the local community as a handy independent alternative to the multiple sheds."