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Stringers; Blending tradition with 21st century technology
This historic department store has stayed current with a curated portfolio of contemporary brands, and modern payment solutions that mean it can focus on providing the best possible customer service.
Read time: 4 mins Added: 17/06/26
Simplicity and support
Independent department store Stringers has been a much-loved institution in the Lancashire seaside town of Lytham since 1852. Damian Clarke and his wife Jenny are co-directors of the business, with Damian leading on the finance, HR and operational sides, while Jenny leads on merchandising and marketing. Stringers has continued to grow at a time when other independent department stores have struggled to survive.
Customer service has always been a priority, and Damien says Lloyds makes card payments simple and secure, so his team can focus on their customers.
Sales at Stringers’ 13 tills are all enabled by Lloyds, and Damian says it was the best solution for the business, primarily because of its ease of use. He said: “More than 90% of all our revenues go through Cardnet®, which sits in the background, and it just works brilliantly. It also makes reconciliation very simple for our back-office team.”
A seamless service
Stringers uses a combination of till-based PAX A920 payment terminals and mobile PAX A77 terminals, which means staff are no longer tied to their tills and are able to take payments anywhere in the store.
Damien Clarke Co-director, StringersThat’s something we’ve never been able to do before and it’s very useful to help reduce waiting times during peak trading periods. At the end of the day, a payment solution just needs to do its job and not get in the way. You don't get long to create a relationship with the customer, and that point-of-sale experience is such an important opportunity to connect. Lloyds does that.
While Stringers did initially consider alternative payment providers, Damian says it was the personal service and advice from Relationship Manager Sammy Marples, as well as transparent pricing, that gave him the confidence to choose Cardnet in 2018.
Sammy Marples Relationship Manager, LloydsStringers process 130,000 transactions a year and, prior to the integration, staff had to manually type the value of every sale into the PDQ card readers, which is time consuming and creates the potential for errors. Now they can just scan the items being bought and the Cardnet and EPOS systems seamlessly communicate with each other.
An enduring appeal
After serving the town for more than 170 years, Stringers now has 20,000 square feet of retail space and 130 staff, with revenues topping £7 million. Damian says the store’s enduring appeal is based on a strategy that combines consistency with constant evolution. In 2024, that saw the £2.5 million acquisition, demolition and rebuilding of an adjacent three-story premises, which boosted sales by 25%.
Damien Clarke Co-director, StringersI think we’ve been able to survive and thrive because we serve the Lytham community with pride and confidence, and our customers have an emotional connection with the store. We have always been clear and consistent in our brand positioning, and we’ve stayed true to our mission to provide the best possible shopping experience.
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