I’m gutted ‘Earlier lockdown would have helped city’s independents’
THE owner of an independent clothing store in Stokes Croft has said she is ‘beyond gutted’ that the country didn’t go into lockdown sooner.
While Wales had a national ‘firebreak’ lockdown coinciding with half-term holidays in October, England did not into lockdown until later – meaning restrictions will be in place for longer and through November, a crucial trading period.
Joh Rindom, company director at That Thing, believes an earlier start and finish to the lockdown in England would have stopped many independents from having to close down and she says she is uncertain how her business will be able to cope during Christmas time.
“The timing of the impact is everything,” the 40-year-old said.
“I am beyond gutted that when lots of localised lockdowns happened across the UK in October, that the whole country didn’t follow suit.
“The timing would have saved a lot of independents, who are not equipped to sit through another lengthy time of uncertainty.
“October is one of the quietest months of the retail year, in contrast to November which is easily the second busiest after December.
“I think the common misconception is ‘well, you’ll get a grant, so you’ll be fine, won’t you?’.
“However, during this lockdown the grants available to small businesses are only 30 per cent of what they were in the first lockdown.
“So this is where things get super hard.
“Many businesses won’t receive a break in their rent, and for retail our workload has suddenly doubled with getting everything online, but our takings are severely cut by not selling as much as we normally would when our doors are open.”
Joh believes more support for businesses like her is essential and she believes the Government should ‘ do more’ and ‘ show they care’ enough to help small businesses survive.
“We’re the backbone of the high street, and without us things would be really bleak,” she said.
“Bristol City Council is pretty on the ball with sending out relevant news emails, which during lockdown come out twice a week. But, more could be done for sure,” she said.
She believes there are also external factors such as competing with huge online firms.
“We’ve seen an increase in demand for convenience in the last few years – people have got lazy, and want things at a click of a button from their desk or their couch.
“So this is what we’re up against as indie retailers. You’re much less likely to stumble across a beautiful inspiring gift shop online than you are walking down a street.
“Passing trade is always going to be important to small businesses, and for me, getting in excess of a couple of thousand items that I have in-store online, is no mean feat.
“It costs a lot of time and money,” she said.
The first lockdown was a “steep learning curve” for That Thing as it ended up going on for a lot longer than anticipated.
“Being able to cope with a second lockdown really goes back to the first lockdown we had in spring.
“So learning from that, and being better prepared for the second lockdown will hopefully mean we can scrape through.
“However it does feel particularly brutal that this has come at a time of year when retail should be at its height.
“Smaller businesses were hugely relying on a successful trade over Christmas to ease the financial losses suffered earlier in the year.
“This trade normally begins in November and small businesses would have started getting in their Christmas stock back in October to be prepared for this.
“Shifting this stock in a very small time frame online will not be the same weight of work as having people come into the stores, meaning that each sale will have to be drawn in, and that’s hard work.”
One of the biggest challenges Joh has faced as an independent business is having to bring their website up to speed, as well trying to ‘save every penny’ whilst their store isn’t open.
She said: “Staff have had to be furloughed and that’s hard in many ways, when in fact what we are doing now with getting stuff online is way more time-consuming than anything else.
“I think a lot of people don’t know the work that goes into every listing on a website, and there’s a common misconception even from my friends, that when I say I’m super busy they think it’s because I’m selling loads and packing orders.
“It’s in no way a Santa’s workshop and it’s hard work.”
That Thing has joined forces along with 22 other independent businesses within Bristol who launched a billboard campaign yesterday to encourage people to buy from independent businesses online.
Alongside this, they’ve launched an Instagram campaign and website where people can find out more about the work that the businesses are doing.
Joh said: “The initial response has been amazing, and the campaign Instagram account soared with over 2,000 followers in the first 48 hours.
“We’ve had so many messages of support, saying what a great initiative it is and how many have found new businesses and inspiration for gifts.”
October is one of the quietest months of the retail year, in contrast to November which is easily the second busiest after December.
Joh Rindon