
cocoon of ‘lockdown’ in a strong position.
cocoon of ‘lockdown’ in a strong position.
It’s a strange situation that we find ourselves in at the moment… the world we know is having a bit of a blip and its quite unnerving. A while ago I wrote a blog about shopping locally and I thought it might be a good idea to publish it again to try to help those people that are going to be staying local, shopping local and hopefully feeling local. Some of the points I raised are probably not going to cover our current extenuating circumstances, but others will still support customers. The points I would like to add to this blog are included at the end.
April 2015
**In the UK we have been witnessing a lovely resurgence in the local shopping experience. This has been lovingly and loyally supported by our biggest community institution, the WI, with their ‘Shop Local’ campaign ‘SOS for High Streets’ launched in 2014. Here at Oh Sew Crafty we have been graced with a steady stream of new customers over the last 3 years and locally our business group has added a town-wide shopping loyalty scheme that has been received really well by the shoppers.
Whilst this situation helps develop a great shopping experience with both retailer and customer, it also brings with it a whole range of more challenging issues that can frustrate everyone! I think that many people are out of practice when it comes to local shopping in small businesses. We have been provided with fantastic shopping experiences over recent years from supermarkets to online stores. We have 24 hour delivery for products that are coming from massive warehouses full of wondrous technology. Customer Services that can be contacted deep into what would be classed as unsociable hours are commonplace on the paper information that comes with our orders. Items can be ordered and delivered ‘Postage FREE’, in bulk and from anywhere in the world.
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So – lets just look at this from the ‘local’ and small business persepective…
In this fast moving marketplace that has developed over the last 10 years or so we have become a little complacent with shopping. I see many people now opting to have the afternoon off, go out with a friend for afternoon tea and have a general browse around the local shops as well. Thank you to you all – we really don’t mind the browsers – they often come back again when they know what project they are going to start. Thank you as well to the shoppers in a rush – you are also always welcome. I know it looks like I am having a good old moan in this blog but nothing could be further from the truth. I suppose it is a little education for our customers… it just takes a little inside knowledge for us all!!
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…so to conclude…. this lovely local community is ready to support each other in potential self isolations and lockdowns. We will all be finding provisions for neighbours, friends and relatives. The madness that is all around us can be calmed slightly if we think locally. I have heard and read about businesses closing their doors to the shoppers – their choice. I have heard about and seen the empty shelves in the big supermarkets. If we shop with the small shops the chances are they will still be in their shops or businesses throughout this whole episode. They will be on the end of a phone or an email. They may even have offered to deliver provisions to their customers. TAKE THEM UP ON THE OFFER! Small businesses will need to stay open as much as they can – the alternative is something I really don’t want to see (for me or anyone else). Some of the things that will help us include purchasing goods, communicating needs, buy some vouchers for use at a later date and keep us in your routine. Thankyou to all our customers past, present and future. Stay well.
Following our fantastic ‘covert’ mission in September, when we painted our small town with yarn as part of the Tour of Britain race making its way through our main street, there has been a slight expectation from the community that we would make things appear again!
The group of volunteers , now affectionately named the ‘Nutty Knitters’ by a member of the public, have been busy once again. In readiness for a spooky Saturday evening we created a creepy atmosphere by installing a number of webs and ghosts around the main street. One of our local supermarkets even donated some of their distinctly coloured carrier bags for us to make waterproof knitted items… pumpkin bunting, pompoms and lamp post covers were very popular with the younger audience. Spiders webs were hung from signposts and bus stops as well as a very large one covering the side of the telephone box.
The public have once again loved the installations – the messages of thanks on social media and in the shop are gratefully received and passed on to the group.
Let me tell you about our little group of volunteers – there is a wide age range of members from our junior knit and natter group right through to some elderly relatives of my customers. The juniors are learning their craft but they have loved being part of the team. There is a lot of excitement when they can show members of their family which bits they knitted. There are members of the team with a lot of experience with their crafts of crochet and knitting and they do a great job of coming up with ideas to install. The older members of our team don’t always see the fruits of their labour but they are very happy to have some knitting or crochet to do which keeps them entertained and occupied. The team also has some young adults that are enthusiastic and motivated with developing their knitting skills and love the installations and the group dynamics – it appears that they are learning lots along the way as well.
If a community project like this can generate so much great feeling then it must be encouraged. Even the winter months can be cheered with a bit of wool… There is definately a feeling of expectation now from the residents of the town; so we are now planning the next event. Hmmmm wonder what that could be?
Last year the Tour de France cycle race stages that happened in the UK brought massive enthusiasm and community spirit to small towns across the country. This year the annual Tour of Britain is making its way through my home town and we are seeing a similar reaction from the community.
Once the dates and route were published there was a team of enthusiasts organised to generate some displays and activities to put our town on the map. I say town, we are indefinable really – too large for a village but not really a town. Over the years the area has grown to a point that some of the older residents don’t recognise it as the village community it used to be. There are those that will inevitably drum down some of the efforts made by local groups by stating that ‘there is no community spirit any more’ well I have always disagreed with these type of comments and this Tour of Britain event is definitely proving me correct!
For the last few weeks there has been a steady stream of yellow cycles being installed along what will be the route of the Tour. They are old bikes, unloved and battered but they are now seeing a new life – loved and enjoyed by entertaining the visitors and residents with their quirky positions on walls, in flower beds and parked against fences. As business owners we have been encouraged to decorate our windows. Yellow themes and more cycles seem to be popular so we sat down here at Oh Sew Crafty and got our thinking hats on. Several cups of tea later we came up with a plan!
As a craft shop our window needed to reflect our whole mission. Of course – the only option was to be a little bit crafty with our window… after a small appeal for some extra help we embarked on our project. Whatever our volunteers could provide; knitted pieces, crochet pieces or even some spare odds and ends of wool…have you guessed yet? What a reaction we have had – lots of volunteers came forward to help. We cracked on with our project for about a week, then we needed a little meeting to reflect on our efforts so far… When we checked the box of items we were a little bit amazed! This calls for an extended ‘covert’ mission as part of the project!
We spent last Saturday in the shop checking the progress and adding to the stash of woolly pieces. As we worked away and customers came into the shop they were fascinated – in fact we gained a few more volunteers along the way. The response has been amazing – I still maintain that there is a deep community spirit in our town. We spent last Thursday adding the first part of the project to the shop window. There is also some knitted bunting and crochet flower garlands in the window. What a reaction we have had to this! It has been lovely to have people pop into the shop and tell us how much they love the bike. One little boy needed to come into the shop just to check it was a real bike! I have seen people cross over the road just to have a closer look – it feels really good to get a happy and positive response.
– and so to our ‘covert’ mission… well we cannot say too much at this stage but suffice to say it involves yarn, volunteers and a bright moon!!!!
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