Specialty cheese shop Woodblock Cheese was invited to trade its suburban location for a temporary city pop-up space for one week, which has seen a huge marketing boost for the business.
Founder Margie Parsons recently quit a long corporate career to open her business - it's been years in the making.
“I’ve always been a traveller and loved to eat heaps of cheese and great food, but a couple of years ago I went and did a cheese making course on a weekend. I decided that’s that, I want to be a cheese maker!” says Parsons.
After receiving full qualifications in early 2017, she invested $80,000 to open her first store in the suburb of Bardon, a leafy residential town 20 minutes west of the Brisbane CBD.
Woodblock Cheese's pop-up sits along Queen Street Mall - a premiere shopping strip. Source: SBS
While the Brisbane cheese market is less saturated than Sydney or Melbourne, the major supermarkets still remain the big competitors. About $2 billion dollars’ worth of cheese was through Australian supermarkets last year.
Parsons, on the other hand, is only looking at turning over $150,000 this year. Her main challenge is growing her customer base and communicating Woodblock Cheese’s point of different from the major supermarkets.
“You know you can find a nice Brie and Camembert from Coles and the supermarkets but we have a very different range.”
Woodblock Cheese sells speciality cheeses such as a pink champagne washed cheese as well as classics such as Camembert. Source: SBS
However, Parsons is hoping her knowledge and specially selected premium cheese can grab a slice of the retail market by marketing to more sophisticated consumer preferences.
This is where the pop-up space comes into play. It has allowed Woodblock Cheese to place their name and products in the middle of a major hub that's usually only accessible to the big players. Customers can come in and try their offerings, ranging from classic Camembert, to cheese washed in pink champagne.
Xero’s QLD Territory Manager Andrew Hirst says having a pop up is about raising awareness.
Pop-up spaces in major hubs are helping SMEs grow their brand awareness among a large market. Source: SBS
“In a small suburban area she's only going to get passing traffic but here so many more people seeing her brand and having a small new business like Margie's got, those first stages are really important.” Says Hirst.
Parsons is reaping the benefits of the marketing by being able to reach customers beyond Bardon. She’s already had a welcome boost in turnover.
Source: SBS
“So far I think I’ve turned over $3500 in 3 days, and usually I’d probably do $2000 a week.”
“It’s hard, the biggest thing is you just can’t compare what you could have earned in a corporate career to money your earning now because it’s more of a decision about what’s good for me and my health and mental wellbeing long term.”
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