With the weekend’s Small Business Saturday encouraging people to ‘shop local, shop independent, shop online with local stores, post about favourite shops on social media and leave good reviews’, people have been eager to get back to the high street to do their Christmas shopping, and the good news is that it’s looking really positive for December say newly re-opened gift indies.
“We feel very, very positive!” enthused Aga Gabrysiak, co-owner of Highworth Emporium in Highworth, near Swindon. “The first day we re-opened was just amazing! We had people in all day long and from the start, we doubled our takings by comparison to the same day last year, which is absolutely fantastic! People were really patient and so grateful to be able to shop again. And it was so lovely to see familiar faces and to catch up on what happened in the meantime, etc., although with click & collect we were still seeing our customers during lockdown, so it was not as bad as the lockdown in Spring.”
Continued Aga: “The days since re-opening have also been fantastic! I feel very positive about December. In fact, I placed quite a few big orders the week before we re-opened to make sure we have enough stock of the most popular products, but having reopened I can see that I may need to order more, which is absolutely fabulous! Also, we had a visit from our local MP on Friday (December 4) to promote Small Business Saturday, so roll on the rest of December!”
At Raven Lifestyle in Tavistock and Totnes, owner Bradley Trevelyan commented: “It’s been a great welcome back so far! We’re thrilled to have been able to re-open the doors to our wonderful customers who have shown us such great support. The Christmas music is on and we have plenty of festive cheer to welcome everyone back into a safe, feelgood and festive shopping environment,”
In the North, Lucy and Paul Hull, co-owners of For The Love of the North store in Spanish City, Whitley Bay, enthused: “We’re both so happy to be back and open. For any small independent business to lose a month’s trade through being closed in the run up to Christmas is devastating. However, we’ve received wonderful support online and now that we have opened the door once again, that amazing warm-hearted community around us is making a concerted effort to shop local this Christmas, with Small Business Saturday giving us an additional sales boost.”
Pryia Aurora-Crowe, co-owner of six Lark gift and lifestyle shops in South London, was just as enthusiastic: “It’s terrific to be open again, it’s long overdue,” said Priya. “It feels wonderful to be able to sell Christmas baubles again, and to see our regular customers and have their support.”
However, Priya admits it’s going to be tough to claw back lost Christmas trade. “We can’t compare this Christmas to last year because of the limited number of people on the shop floor, making that impossible, but it is what it is, and we are just so happy to be open again! Our shops are busy and we’ll keep on trading. Our thanks go out to all our suppliers who have been so patient and supportive in changing delivery dates etc.”
On the downside however, having been excited to re-open, Jo Williams, owner of Joco in Nuneaton, has been up in arms about a parking issue. “My local council have refused to offer free parking in the run up to Christmas for political reasons, and so I’ve offered to pay parking throughout December for customers spending £25 or over at Joco,” Jo explained. “Towns that are local to us all have free parking throughout December so it will just make things even harder. However, thankfully we have been busy since re-opening and we have had some great feedback from customers who want to keep the high street alive and vibrant.”
She continued: “To tie-in with Small Business Saturday, I offered all my customers a discount voucher through the store, which can be redeemed up to the end of December.”
Suppliers too, confirmed that business has been buoyant. “We’ve been extremely busy, far busier than we usually are at this time of year,” Julian Hunt, managing director of Lesser & Pavey told GiftsandHome.net, while Carrie Shapiro, creative director of Carrie Elspeth said: “it’s gone a little bit bonkers here which is wonderful!”
Independent retailers got a further boost on Saturday (December 5) from Times columnist Janice Turner. “It’s the smaller independent businesses that make you take a trip, to see things you need to hold and see, maybe sold by the people who made them . . . where your money stays in the town.”
Top: It’s good to be back!
