Family Business
Issue No. 51 - February/March 2010
Clever approach to retail development
Going into business together was a giant leap into the unknown for Fay Zaikos and her daughter Eli Zaikos-Ridley, but more than 17 years down the
track the duo behind South Australian retail outlet, Cleverdicks, are proof that teamwork and talent make a formidable combination.
The Cleverdicks story goes back some 26 years in Adelaide, although it wasn’t until Eli and Fay joined forces to buy the business in 1993 that the retail outlet became synonymous with variety, quality and style after they turned the balance sheet and store around. “When we came into the picture there was just one Cleverdicks store and it was floundering,” says Eli. “It was a spontaneous decision to go into partnership with Mum. After I heard that the business was on the market, within 10 days we bought it. “We didn’t give a second thought to the challenges, just the opportunities.”Within 12 months of purchasing the retail outlet at Mitcham Square, Eli and Fay opened another Cleverdicks store at Burnside Village and worked to rejuvenate the business drawing on their areas of expertise.
Eli, an experienced printmaker and textile designer, took on the role of buyer, while Fay, who spent several years in the retail industry before stepping out of the workforce to raise children, embraced the task of re-designing the layout of the store and visual merchandising. “We knew we had to change the whole direction of the original store, which had been sparsely stocked with desig...
