The Red Hawks football coaches Derek Little who is leading the juniors with Dave Lloyd left and Raavo Laidla who is leading the seniors with Dan Marsden discuss the playbook on the first day of practice at the Gary G. Brohman Athletic Field in Haliburton. With more than 50 players out for the program interest in the gridiron game is high./DARREN LUM Staff By Darren Lum
Staff reporter
There’s more to a name than the letters that make it up – the people behind the business give the name its meaning.
The V&S Department Store has been a downtown staple in Haliburton since the Glecoff family bought it in 1995. Since the V&S buying group no longer exists the Glecoffs have chosen a new name announcing on June 19 that it would now be called Glecoff’s Family Store.
Andy and Sandra Glecoff the soon-to-be-retired owners and Clay and Amy Glecoff the store’s future owners made the official announcement about the new name and re-branding of the store.
Clay said the basis for the change was to establish a new image with the public and the retail industry.
“We wanted a name that would shed the department store image and better reflect what we’re doing inside the store. We felt that there really wasn’t an attachment to V&S by us and the customers” he said. The new name will also allow them to buy from new distributors.
There is an understanding that for all these changes that customer service is an essential component to retail success.
“We’ve got a rule in the store. There’s no pointing by the staff. You have to take the customer to where they want to go and see what they’re looking for” Clay said.
Seven months of work including design and marketing research with a focus group went into the re-design.
Changes for the store include a new website logo business cards highway sign advertising to alert the public to the changes and department store signs. A family mural is being planned to convey family history present and future. The Glecoff’s retail history began with Cyril Glecoff in 1929.
Mike Jaycock and Linda Middleton were hired to handle marketing and design respectively.
Clay said he’s hoping to build on current customer buying patterns to expand what can be expected when shoppers come to the store.
“What I’d like to see happen is us become a destination store as well. Robinson’s [General Store in Dorset]: I throw that out there as an example. Everybody talks about how great Robinson’s is. People go there to see what’s going on. That’s what I want to become” he said.
