Trio seek to lead way in a ‘growing market’

A TRIO of businessman have spotted a gap in the market for their latest company which they hope could eventually go nationwide.
Left-right: Jamie Smith, Julian Barnes and Russell Knight of Supplement Locker in their new shop W31210H13Left-right: Jamie Smith, Julian Barnes and Russell Knight of Supplement Locker in their new shop W31210H13
Left-right: Jamie Smith, Julian Barnes and Russell Knight of Supplement Locker in their new shop W31210H13

Russell Knight, Julian Barnes and Jamie Smith opened sports nutrition shop Supplement Locker, in Broadwater Street West, Worthing, three weeks ago.

They noticed no-one had tapped into the potential of the ever-growing market, and hope their experiences as consumers in their chosen industry will put them at an advantage.

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Mr Knight, 34, said: “We felt Worthing didn’t have anything like this, and it’s one of the biggest-growing markets in the country.

“You have to go to Brighton or Chichester for something similar. We have Holland and Barrett, but that’s more health foods.”

The trio held an official opening event last Saturday, and received a positive response from the community.

And the ‘diverse’ range of people interested in the shop has surprised them the most.

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Mr Knight said: “There’s been a much bigger demand than we thought, and our customers have been much more diverse.

“We’ve had everything from young people, to ladies in their late 50s wanting our meal replacement supplements to help them lose a bit of weight.”

The decision to set-up shop in Broadwater was chosen as the group believed it was a better option than the town centre.

Mr Knight said: “Broadwater was always the option. In our eyes we saw a growing community here.

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“There are parking restrictions in town which we don’t have here, but we don’t rule out having a shop in the town centre in the future.”

He added: “We see no reason why we couldn’t have a shop in as many towns as possible.”

Mr Knight owns a graphic design business, which allowed the group to save significant costs.

Mr Barnes owns an electrical company, while Mr Smith runs a sports equipment embroidery firm.

Mr Knight said: “We are all interested in sport, and use the various products in the shop. I’d been thinking about going into the industry for some time.”