Sunderland stores need your support

If there’s one time to have a merry Mackem Christmas it’s now!

Our Support Local campaign is taking on more significance as the coronavirus restrictions continue to bite.

We asked the public about their shopping habits during the pandemic and they have revealed some disturbing, but not entirely surprising results.

A whole section of our Big Conversation survey was dedicated to a shift in consumer confidence and shopping habits and, when asked, 45.1% of readers said they had visited their local city centre a lot less since shops were able to reopen, while 24.2% said they hadn't visited at all. The statistics are one thing, but it’s the people on the ground who really understand the impact.

And the words of watchmaker Harry Collinson Snr, who has been trading in the city for 40 years, ought to act as a wake-up call for many.

He said: "We first opened in the city in 1981 and have traded through the pits closing and the shipyards closing, but I’ve never known anything like this.”

It’s oft quoted that ‘if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it’ and that is certainly true of our local businesses who are struggling during the pandemic.

Our survey may have revealed some consumer trepidation, but in one area there was a huge groundswell of support for local businesses.

More than 70% agreed that “the Christmas period will be a good opportunity to support local businesses.” Let’s do it … and make this the merriest Mackem Christmas ever.