‘Any order that comes through is exciting, but I want to keep the local connection’
Hellen Stirling-Baker, 34, owner of Small Stuff, Sheffield
Crookes Street usually has a heaving Christmas market, but that won't go ahead this year
Hellen Stirling-Baker admits that the second lockdown came as a shock. She had done everything she could to make her ethical children’s store in the thriving Crookes Street area of Sheffield Covid-secure, and was anticipating that a successful pre- Christmas run could help end a difficult year on a high. And then she was forced to close her shop again.
It made Stirling-Baker determined to ensure that the local community could still support the other independent shops like ike hers in the area. So she posted d her intention to create a shop op hub on the local community ty Facebook group; the he response was overwhelmmingly positive. “That night tI I built my second- ever website, ebsite, apart from my own. I sent loads of Google forms out to local al stores and created shopcrookes.co.uk.” co.uk.”
The site is a hub for businesses sinesses in the area to show what they’re offering during lockdown; wn; click and collect from the local l florist, opening times for the DIY store and card shop, the takeaway menus of the local cafés. “We’re getting funding to help us with advertising, but I wanted to show that we’re all in this together and trying to get through this crucial period.” Crookes Street usually has a heaving Christmas market that won’t go ahead this year.
“We want to make sure people remember to shop local,” says Stirling-Baker. She was already hardwired into the local community due to the children’s groups she runs from Small Stuff, but says the respo response has been wonderful. “Peop “People are excited that their local area is doing something different.”
Sm Small Stuff and other businesse nesses are offering Covid- safe local d deliveries, as well as kerbside coll collection. Meanwhile, she has pu put everything she sells online: “I “It was a mammoth task.” Sh She’s had orders from as far as Lo London and Scotland, but it’s the local economy she’s interested in. “Any order that comes throu through is exciting, but I want to keep t the local connection alive.”