Anthony Sterne, who runs a 152-year-old butchers in Ripon, is a stickler for tradition. A country mile away from the major retailers that start decking the halls in autumn, it’s the kind of independent thinking that sets his shop – and other independent traders like him – apart. No matter what kind of Christmas you’re after, there’s a shopkeeper who can supply it – with a personalised service to match. From York to Leicester and down to London, meet three shop owners who go far beyond the usual “service with a smile”.
The traditional touch at Appleton’s butchers
With its Tudor-style facade, oak-panelled interior and handmade pies piled high, Appleton’s butchers shop in Ripon could have been plucked straight from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. But if a certain Mr Ebenezer Scrooge was to lean from an upstairs window and ask a passerby to buy the biggest turkey in the window, he wouldn’t need to fling down a handful of coins. Owner Anthony Sterne is proud to say that this Yorkshire institution now takes cards.
Anthony Sterne has been running Appleton’s for 10 years
“We’ve tried to update but not overhaul,” says Sterne, who bought this Victorian butchers 10 years ago when it was still cash-only. “The recipes have stayed the same – we’ve just done our best to build on what was there already.” His first concern was caring for customers: “When we took over the business, service was something that was really important to me because when people are coming into our shop, all the service is over the counter,” he says.
The annual Christmas order – which Sterne resolves cannot be placed before the official start of the season on 1 December – has a firm place in customers’ calendars. “Not just customers, but generations of customers,” points out Sterne, who is also a local farmer and was raised nearby. Appleton’s has embraced the spirit of Christmas future in some ways, however: “In the last couple of years, we’ve started texting people when their order is ready.” Easier than shouting up to a window, then.
Seasonal style at Harriman & Co
Warm, affable and passionate about the “lovely things” in his homeware store, it’s no surprise that Drew Harriman is on first-name terms with customers, other shopkeepers and local creatives alike. His shop Harriman & Co stocks goods by Leicester ceramicist Sue Pryke – soon to be a judge on Channel 4’s the Great Pottery Throw Down – and at Christmas he gets the local florist to deck out the store with pine and fir.
Drew Harriman supports Leicester artists at his shop, Harriman & Co
Local knowledge comes in particularly handy at this time of year, when Harriman has listened to his customers’ hints – even if their partners haven’t. “Sometimes at that point we just have to tell them what to buy. We’re like: ‘Right, this is what you need’, because they’re in such a panic. We’re able to tell people where it’s from, we know the maker and the product, so we can extol the virtues of what we’re selling as well,” he says.
Some people do take it up to the very last minute, however. “On one of our first Christmas Eves, we’d cashed up, the lights were off and we’d put all the security grilles on the front of the shop and this guy comes knocking at the door. He was like: ‘I know what I want, I know what I want! I came in and saw it earlier, can you help me?’ And we were like: ‘Yes, of course,’” he recalls. “We basically traded under the security grille!”
Festive pets at Pack and Clowder
When it comes to style in her east London pet shop, Jackie Crank likes to keep a firm grip on the leash: “Anything with paw or bone motifs is banned from this shop,” she says with a laugh. You may presume spangles are also outlawed at Pack and Clowder, but Crank likes to indulge her customers at Christmas. “People love the doggy outfits, the Christmas bow ties, the sequin bow ties … There are doggy snoods with these funny little hats on them and I was a bit like ‘really?!’ but people love it,” she says.
Jackie Crank and Barclay outside Pack and Clowder
Dressing up is positively encouraged at her Christmas event where last year customers could shop with a glass of champagne in hand and take advantage of the doggy photobooths. She even steeled herself to order something special for a husky: “I don’t usually stock the Christmas outfits in that size, but this customer was absolutely desperate for it and I got one from one of my suppliers. The customer didn’t send a photo, unfortunately I never saw it – I cannot imagine what this husky looked like in an elf costume!”
Crank’s success is down to knowing her clientele, whether two- or four-legged – after all, it’s hard not to when she bumps into them on walkies with her own jack russell crossbreed. “You get to know your customers: I know their dogs, I know their cats – with them it’s a bit different obviously because they don’t come in, but you still know what they like and what they want.”
Show your high street some love
Why not seek out the personal touch with your Christmas shopping this year and join Visa in supporting local independent businesses across the country because #WhereYouShopMatters
