Youngsters benefit as indie retailer extends stationery knowledge to occupational therapists
Indie retailers using their specialist knowledge to help customers is par for the course – but Stationery Supplies’ Sarah Laker has taken this further to work with occupational therapists and their clients.
Sarah has shared her knowledge of products from Maped Helix, Premier Stationery UK and Zieler to help handwriting at training sessions for the Manchester Occupational Therapy Services (MOTS) team, which is now offering one-to-one sessions at her shop.
And the team, which offers provide private occupational therapy assessments and treatments for children and adults, has now been promoting the products and Sarah’s two stores, in Marple and Wilmslow, at the Autism Show, the national event for the condition, which ran in Manchester on Friday and Saturday, 10-11 June.
“Everyone knows the buzz I get out of stationery and selling it,” Sarah said, “so imagine the buzz I had from a meeting with MOTS when listening to the interesting comments from them as I shared my specialist stationery knowledge of products to help handwriting.
“One of the therapists was so excited about the Zieler handwriting pen that she was going to drop it off with a family that night so the child could try it straight away!”
She added that the absolute winners were several Maped Helix products, including the 360 Agility compass, Kidygrip Ruler, Rabbit Sharpener and left-handed ruler, along with the Zieler Writing Slope, plus Premier Stationery’s range of pencil grips and overlays.
“It’s great to be able to work with forward thinking suppliers who care about children’s education – Maped are giving 1% of its 2022 sales to support education projects worldwide,” explained Sarah, who was a winner in the 2021 Retas greeting card retailers’ awards and is a finalist in two categories this year.
MOTS added: “Our occupational therapists are using the items you gave us with some of the children we support. We’re extremely excited about collaborating with you and look forward to planning some handwriting sessions together very soon.”
At the Autism Show, MOTS was busy liaising with families and professionals, and facilitated a successful talk on Sensory Self-Care Skills, and said: “Our specialised stationery on display was very popular and many of our visitors are looking forward to visiting Stationery Supplies in the near future for Maped Helix products – word-of-mouth recommendation is always amazing.”
Top: Favourite subject – Sarah Laker talking about stationery to occupational therapists
