Shops and salons ready and waiting
Delighted to be opening up again
BUSINESS OWNERS across Calderdale are looking forward to brighter times ahead when they get to re-open on April 12.
As lockdown restrictions gradually continue to ease in England, non-essential retailers as well as hairdressers and salons are among the businesses that can open once again from the start of next week.
Jinny Riley, owner of the Word of Mouth craft shop in Hebden Bridge, said: “I’m really, really looking forward to it, because I need to. I can’t wait to see my customers again, it’s part of my social life so I’ve missed them all. What I sell, arts and crafts supplies, it’s very tactile and people want to come in with their ideas and discuss them with me and brainstorm together. I’m looking forward to being busy again. I was in the throes of making a website before lockdown and I’ve been building that up over the past year but it takes a while for your online presence to become established, so I really need to open now.”
Jinny is confident that people will come flocking back to Hebden
Bridge when restrictions are lifted.
“The food places are still open and people are coming into town, but it just needs a bit of life breathing back into it again and I just hope it holds out this time and we don’t have another wave,” she said. “Hebden Bridge is renowned for being a little town with lots of independent shops in and I think people like to come here and go walking, have a mooch round the shops, so I think it will be busy.”
Kate and Colin Lyall have owned Lyall’s Bookshop in Todmorden for 20 years.
“We don’t open Monday or Tuesday so it will be April 14 for us but we’re looking forward to it,” said Kate. “We initially did some selling over the internet because lots of people have been locked down without the chance of buying anything to read. But people have been working more this last lockdown so we’ve not had very much in the way of sales so we’ve been pretty much shut. It’s a relief to be opening again and lots of our customers have been ringing and asking when it’s going to be and if we’re opening again. Because Todmorden’s such a pretty little town we do get lots of visitors. There’s quite a few people in the area who are big readers so I’m fairly sure we’ll be back to normal soon.”
Laura Bottomley opened her business, Full Extent Hair in Sowerby village, in October.
“I can’t wait to re-open, it’s been a long four months,” she said. “I only opened for four weeks over December and had to shut again. I’ve just had four working weeks basically.
“Since closing in December, I’ve used the time to expand on training, things I wouldn’t have had time before to do. I announced I was opening the diary a couple of weeks ago and since then it has just been manic, I think I’m booked up until
I can’t wait to reopen, it’s been a long four months Laura Bottomley, Full Extent Hair, Sowerby village
June. The support has been amazing throughout it all, if anything this pandemic’s brought people together in a sense of supporting each other. It’s definitely been testing times, there’s been times when you think ‘have I made the right decision’ but then I come up and sit in the salon and think ‘you know what, I’m going to smash it when it’s open.”
Lisa Jakimciw, from the Elder restaurant, in the Piece Hall, said: “We are really excited to be welcoming people back after so long. From the response and bookings so far I think there will be lots of people eager to get out and enjoy socialising outdoors and like most people, we are still cautious and keen to open back up with safety and comfort a priority. We are therefore working hard to create a great, and safe, shared space everyone can enjoy. That’s why we have opted to run our ‘patties & pickles’ burger pop-up to manage a more relaxed outdoor service, have a bit of fun and do something a bit different.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK Which shops will you be looking forward to visiting again in Calderdale?
Contact us via EMAIL/ONLINE/TWITTER