With Mother’s Day the second most important gift giving occasion for gift retailers, it was definitely all systems to go to make the very most of the big day last Sunday (March 27).
“We had a fantastic run up to Mother’s Day this year,” confirmed Rachel Bates, owner of The Celtic Company in Welshpool. “It was amazing to have the doors open in the build-up this year, which, unfortunately, we didn’t have last year. After a busy week, the weekend was an explosion of trade, and the support to independent high street stores was overwhelming this year. There were lots of beautiful gifts heading out of the door but jewellery was definitely our stand-out this year, with Joma, Nomination and Qudo all proving extremely popular. It definitely felt like customers were going the extra mile this time, and it was fantastic to have a bit of normality back for such an important time of year for us!”
Also reporting an incredible Mother’s Day week and weekend was Greg Rose, co-owner of Maybugs in Hailsham and Eastbourne. “It was simply epic!” enthused Greg. “With January and February having been a bit slow we were rather pessimistic about what Mother’s Day might bring. However, we needn’t have worried! From mid-week, sales were off the chart, the best Mother’s Day we have had in the four years that our Hailsham store has been trading. This was mirrored online too, and at our new Eastbourne store which had it best week since Christmas.”
He added that Mother’s Day itself was just as strong, with lots of people out shopping with their mums. “We had long debated on whether we should open or not, but opening was definitely the right decision.”
Greg points out that a significant change from previous years was that people were spending on big things. “We had lots of sales of over £40 – plus even bigger items, such at the Skitso lady lamps from Bentley and Bo at £150 each and Giant Giraffes from Ocean Sole at £500. Overall there seemed to be no limit on what people were willing to splash out on for their mums, whether than was art, sculpture, luxury candles or jewellery. Maybe it was due to them not being able to celebrate last year.”
At Lovely Libby’s in Rayleigh, owner Libby Holden could not have been happier with the occasion. “We had a great Mother’s Day this year, one of our best Mother’s Days to date!” she told GiftsandHome.net. “The shop had that busy buzz it used to have pre covid, and I felt that people were happy to be able to actually shop in store with us this year as, of course, in the previous two years, we were in lockdown for Mother’s Day.”
She continued: “To make shopping that bit easier this year we created Mother’s Day gift boxes which we sold through our website. “These were made up of lots of different beautiful items in the shop, and they were a huge hit, especially with men, as it was a very simply way of shopping. Everything was done for them at a click.”
As for best sellers, she highlighted that everything sold well across the board. “We sold a lot of pieces from our clothing boutique, thanks to our live videos from the shop and, as always, our hand painted gin glasses were a firm favourite. This year, we also decided to put a small table outside the shop, with some last minute Mother’s Day gifting ideas, as we wanted to entice passers-by to stop and shop with us and it definitely worked. Lots of people stopped by and we had a fabulous Saturday,” confirmed Libby.
“Having opened in August 2019 it was great to trade a full Mother’s Day,” concurred Bill Nettelfield, owner of Bill & Bert’s in Colchester. “Mother’s Day 2020 was just before the first lockdown and footfall had already dropped away. Last year we were all in lockdown again, so this Mother’s Day we were geared up for, hopefully, the best week and Saturday of the year so far, and it didn’t disappoint. Sales across the board were great. We had steady growth throughout March leading up to last week. The average spend has been up all year and Mother’s Day was no different. On Saturday, children with their dads were having a great time buying gifts. Joma jewellery was one of the best sellers, along with Lily Flame candles. Ashleigh & Burwood is always is a winner but was even more so last weekend. However, Wrendale was probably the stand out winner for the week.”
However, for Highworth Emporium in Highworth, Mother’s Day was full of highs and lows this year. “Mother’s Day was a strange one,” commented owner Aga Marsden. “Trade definitely started much earlier than usual, with a busy first two weeks of March and then it all went quiet,” she explains. “The week before Mother’s Day was actually the quietest ever, but then the Saturday before Mothering Sunday, everything went through the roof again. The most popular sector was definitely home fragrance, especially Heart & Home and Scentiment Gifts, followed by hand painted gin glasses and jewellery, mainly from Equilibrium. Adds Aga: “Overall our Mother’s Day trade was marginally better than in 2019, which is great considering how tough the year has been so far.”
Top: Happy Mother’s Day! Enesco’s Peanuts by Jim Shore says it all.
