‘Shop local’ message has been lost in latest lockdown
LITTLE GEEK SHACK HAD JUST MOVED PREMISES WHEN LOCKDOWN BEGAN
IT was with great excitement that Sharon Messitt threw open the doors of the new and improved Little Geek Shack in St Peter’s Square in Wexford town at the start of December.
Having been open for around a year and a half selling collectables, comic books, vintage clothing and vinyl records in a small shop on South Main Street, the move ticked two boxes – it allowed her to continue to grow her business and also allowed for more social distancing as we learned to live with Covid-19.
However, the elation was to be short lived. Sharon had just three weeks of welcoming customers when she, along with all other businesses deemed non-essential, was forced to shut up shop. With January and February having now passed, uncertainty remains over when she can welcome customers again.
‘It was after the October lockdown I signed up to the new place,’ Sharon said. ‘I didn’t have much space and really I could only have around two people in the shop at any time. People seemed kind of nervous to come in. I was growing the business too and that’s why I opted to move to Peter’s Square.’
Having enjoyed the buzz of a new shop in the buildup to Christmas, she was devastated have to close up again indefinitely.
‘It was awful,’ Sharon said. ‘The first lockdown was a novelty. The second one, I was getting the new place ready, but this one feels different altogether. There’s so much uncertainty.
‘Up until the announcement the other night, I thought “another couple of weeks, fine”. But now we’ve no date in sight for when we can re-open. I will battle through though. I’ll beg, steal or borrow to keep this shop open. Some can’t do that though. I’m lucky that my rent is quite reasonable and my landlord has been quite good.’
Sharon feels that the attitude taken towards local businesses this time out has been drastically different too and the ‘shop local’ message has been lost.
‘The last lockdown, it was all about shop local,’ she said. ‘There were loads of campaigns and it was being pushed everywhere. There’s been nothing like that this time out. We do a bit online, but it’s very slow. People love coming to Wexford to visit unique, small, independent shops and a lot of them will disappear from the Main Street after this.
There are no campaigns or anything this time. Businesses are still here, but we’re being left high and dry this time.’