The continually evolving but highly profitable Halfords is one of the more complex, but certainly most instructive, case studies of recent British retailing.

The continually evolving but highly profitable Halfords is one of the more complex, but certainly most instructive, case studies of recent British retailing.

Today’s multifaceted Halfords is radically different in range and service offers from the Boots-owned business that entered the new century, and it is even further removed from the struggling 1980s high-street bikes and car parts business.

In the early years of last decade, ownership and status changes were a feature of the company, as were successive new managements.

A common denominator, though, was its highly regarded leadership, with evolution of the business continuing against a strict cost-control background.

David Wild may have been in charge since 2008, but Halfords has achieved double-digit operating margins since 2002/03, reaching closer to 15% of late – despite a 5.5% dip in 2010/11 like-for-likes. There have been further, albeit smaller, falls this year.

Retail Week Knowledge Bank’s Halfords’ profile highlights, for example, how the ongoing re-balancing of store space has been a crucial strategy since 2006, while astute management has progressively increased service elements, from extending the ‘We fit’ concept to buying Nationwide Autocentres’ market- leading operation despite its modest 1% market share that is ripe for development in a fragmented £9bn sector.

Halfords has few major competitors in most segments, let alone overall.

Indeed, this is a feature of its latest canny move into the mobility market, as it serves an ageing society that requires advice and service back-up; it is a segment that wields attractive spending power.

There are, of course, elements that might be improved or questioned, such as distinctly modest sales densities, for example, or the withdrawal from its central European trials.

Overall, though, Halfords has an impressive record, proving again, and in particular, that retail is detail.

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