BACK IN BUSINESS!
Aoife Foran of Put a Bow on It getting ready for yesterday’s reopening.
BUSINESS owners in Enniscorthy were very busy in recent weeks preparing to reopen their premises this week as Phase 2 of the Government’s roadmap for reopening the country is rolled out.
This phase sees small businesses opening on the basis that they can control the number of individuals that staff and customers interact with at any one time.
Aoife Foran from Put A Bow On It in Enniscorthy described some of the preparations necessary to get ready for a new way of doing business.
She also highlighted the fact that opening up for business is ‘very welcome’ after an extensive period of forced closure.
‘I’ve rearranged the shop and there are floor markers for social distancing,’ she said.
‘I’ve also got a sanitiser station as you come in the door,’ she added.
Aoife also said she plans to stay behind the counter in the shop as much as she can.
‘I will leave two people in at a time,’ she said.
Aoife expects things to be very different to what it was like before the lockdown.
‘It will be a big change for everyone when we get back into the shop and a new experience for everyone,’ she said.
Trish Rackard, who runs Yellow Rose in Enniscorthy, said there will be big changes for everyone from this week onwards.
‘It’s hard to know how it will go and I suppose we won’t know until it gets going,’ she said.
She said the public has been very supportive of her during the forced closure – although she has been doing some business online from home.
‘I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things but it will be different,’ she said.
Trish is offering an out-ofhours service by appointment for people who might be nervous about shopping when other people are around.
She also expressed hope that people will continue to support their local shops now that the reopening period has begun.
‘I suppose we all hope that people will support local and stay local,’ she said.
She highlighted the fact that businesses have really missed out on the recent spell of great weather and for her reopening period she will be offering discounts of 20 per cent and 30 per cent on different items.
She is extremely appreciative of people asking her how she has been doing during the lockdown and said it’s nice to know that people care.
While she ordinarily has two people working in the shop with her, and she is very appreciative of their support, for the initial stage of reopening Trish will run the shop herself.
‘We will just have to see how it will go but it’s good to be reopening again,’ she said.
IT’S HARD TO KNOW HOW IT WILL GO AND I SUPPOSE WE WON’T KNOW UNTIL IT GETS GOING