Local shopkeepers have had many reasons to despair this year. The pandemic has brought unimaginable levels of uncertainty and financial pressure. However, amid the despair, there have also been moments of hope. Moments that have convinced shopkeepers to carry on, or just moments that have made them smile. Many of these were thanks to the special relationships that have been forged between local shops and customers. And each moment highlights just how much it means to businesses when we choose to shop locally.
“There have actually been several standout moments,” says Barry Whitehouse, who owns The Artery art shop in Banbury, Oxfordshire. When the first lockdown began, The Artery started offering free online art classes. “We’ve been so touched by the feedback from all over the world,” he says. “The lessons we gave during the first lockdown have had more than 14,000 views, and we now have people worldwide joining in our regular online classes or free monthly demonstrations.”
One standout moment occurred when two viewers actually showed up in person to express their gratitude. “In between lockdowns, we had a visit from a couple who live in Lanzarote but who have family from Gloucester,” says Whitehouse. “They made the 40-plus-mile trip to visit the shop to see us and express their appreciation of our free art classes and demonstrations during the first lockdown, and said how much it helped them and gave them focus while they were isolated from all of their family and friends.”
These moments of connection with their new global community have had a big impact on Whitehouse and his team: “It’s amazed and humbled us that so many people value what we do and as a tiny little shop we have been able to reach people from all over the world.”
Expressions of customer gratitude have had a profound effect on local businesses – expressions that have ranged from heartfelt thanks to big gestures.
Weyfish fishmongers in Weymouth, Dorset, introduced home deliveries for the first time when pandemic restrictions began, with owner Sean Cooper’s wife, Maxine, taking on delivery duties. Neither of them could have imagined what would happen one morning when she proceeded down a driveway to do a contactless delivery. “The self-isolating couple asked her to just stand where she was – it turned out they were both musicians and had written a thank you song for her and for Weyfish,” says Cooper. “They serenaded her then and there in the driveway. She was so blown away that she froze, so didn’t film it.”
The couple lived a little way away so hadn’t been regular customers, but afterwards they started visiting the shop on a weekly basis. “That’s what it is all about,” he says. “That’s what makes it worthwhile.”
Meanwhile, Martha Brown, who runs Forge Bakehouse in Sheffield, decided to introduce local deliveries back in March, with her parents volunteering to be drivers. She says they now receive eggs from the farm of one of their regulars when they arrive with the customer’s order. “A customer giving eggs from their own chickens as a thank you just seems so lovely and extra special, and shows the support for us as a local business,” says Brown.
Some local businesses, such as Nic Bottomley, who co-owns bookshop Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath with wife Juliette, have been buoyed by seeing their existing shop community adapt to the social distancing measures necessitated by the pandemic. “The great thing about bookselling at the best of times is that our customers are always quick to feed back and quick to let us know how they’ve been enjoying – or not, as the case may be – a particular book we’ve recommended,” he says. “In lockdown, those same customers have been so generous in their thanks for us getting books and book recommendations to them, and just continue to connect with us about the books by phone or email.”
The shift to digital and e-commerce during the pandemic has also led to local retailers such as Mr B’s developing a more far-flung community. Bottomley says “one of the biggest buzzes of the season” came from one such connection. “We embarked on a number of projects on YouTube for our customers, including informal author interviews and daily children’s storytime sessions during the first lockdown. As a result, we had an incredible email from Miguel in Brazil who wanted to thank us,” he says. The email explained how Miguel’s family now watches videos from Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights regularly. “It’s such a delight to watch these videos,” the email stated. “My son loves it, and we want to thank you for this wonderful opportunity in such difficult times. Thanks for bringing such joy and happiness.”
For Andrea Mahoney, owner of CoLab gift shop in Bristol, the global and local came together during her most poignant moments of the pandemic. “One customer experience in particular stands out most for me,” she says. “I had a customer in New Zealand contact me to order some gifts for his sister who lived not too far from the shop. Between us, we organised gift wrapping and included a handwritten card that I hand-delivered to her house on her birthday – she had absolutely no idea and was completely bowled over,” says Mahoney. “Thinking about the look of surprise on her face keeps me going.”
For other local shopkeepers, such as Kalkidan Legesse, owner of Exeter ethical fashion and lifestyle store Sancho’s, the most meaningful encounters have occurred when things were at the most difficult. “When we first realised we needed to close the shop we invited our customers to buy gift cards for themselves to use at a later date,” she says. The result? More than 100 orders – a response that had a big effect: “This made us feel like ultimately people wanted us to be around and encouraged us to keep on going,” says Legesse.
Winston Farquharson owns SE20 Cycles in Penge, London, and describes the pandemic as being both the best of times and the worst of times. “We’ve experienced moments of despair when told a common bike part is not available and nor would it be for several months,” he says. However, there have been bright moments as well. “In the middle of all of that, we sold a bicycle to a key worker – not a nurse or an occupational therapist, but someone we rely on daily to clear our refuse and make our life habitable,” he says. “The customer had put a deposit on a bike at the beginning of the first lockdown and was walking in the early hours to her place of work. Her smile and gratitude in June when her bike finally arrived was something to marvel. It made me feel absolutely that we have something to strive for and this made it all worth the effort.”
This sense that one meaningful sale makes it all worth the effort is shared by many local retailers. Furthermore, these interactions have reassured them, too. Whitehouse, from The Artery, says such encounters “have given us hope and made us feel we may come out of this and still be able to be open, maybe even stronger”.
Mahoney says likewise about her most memorable moment: “It gives me hope for 2021, inspired some wonderful ideas and I can honestly say I am excited. CoLab will get through this and we will be stronger in the end.”
As Kaela Mills, owner of Sprout ethical childrenswear store in Bexhill, puts it: “At the beginning of this year, it felt like a real possibility that shops like mine, and the high street as a whole, would not survive this pandemic – but in actual fact, as it draws to a close it feels as though [the high street] has found a new identity and new inventive ways to thrive,” she says. “The support we have received from customers means everything to us and is giving makers and sellers a lifeline during this incredibly trying time.”
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