I wish... I supported local independent shops (part 4)

Shopping in local independent shops does good and feels good. What's not to like?

Mid-afternoon on 17th December I began walking home in a hurry. I needed to shower, change and drive to my work Christmas party. I also needed to buy wine and chocolates for a colleague whose house I would be staying at afterwards. To say thank you for putting me up. To say thank you for putting up with me!

I crossed the road towards Tesco and then remembered my wish of the month: Support local independent shops.

I paused. I didn't have time for this; I was in a rush! I could buy a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates in Tesco and be done with it. But I'd have to visit two shops on the High Street where the prices would probably be higher and the choices fewer.

Bah! Humbug! What a Scrooge!

I walked to the High Street and into Noble Wines, a small off-licence, where I bought a decent bottle of wine at a similar price to what I would have paid in a supermarket. Then, a little further up the High Street, I bought a box of chocolates from Uckfield Candy Store and More. 

Since both shops were on my walk home and there were no queues to speak of, I was home quicker than if I'd hiked around Tesco, chosen from their vast selection of products, and queued to pay.

A few days later I returned to the High Street to finish my Christmas shopping. It was an operation of military precision. Armed with an empty rucksack, a list of presents to buy, and a working ballpoint pen (rarer than it sounds), I stormed the little shops. 

I bought a present for my brother-in-law in Propel Bikes, an independent cycle shop owned by the very helpful Rob. I picked up gifts for my nephew and niece in Kids Stuff, a local family-run toy store with an impressive selection and, admittedly, another 6 shops in Kent and Sussex towns. And I found a little something for my Nana in Kamsons Pharmacy, which again has stores elsewhere but its Uckfield branch was its first. 

I also visited two fab independent shops seemingly run by couples: Pipe Dreams (Snow-Surf-Skate) owned by David and Julie; and TN22 Sussex (Lifestyle, Vintage & Re-Worked Furniture) run by Steve and Janie. I didn't buy on this occasion, but I'll be back!

I wondered whether my locally purchased gifts this Christmas would be as happily received as presents I'd bought from chain shops in previous years. From what I witnessed (and assuming my family are not talented actors), they were.

I'm not suggesting for one minute that you or I stop shopping in supermarkets and department stores and household name shops altogether. They have their benefits. But...

The next time you need to buy something, ask yourself if it's possible to buy that thing in a local independent shop.

If you're not sure, go and have a look. You might be pleasantly surprised. Surprised by the selection, the price, the customer service, and probably by a warm fuzzy feeling inside for having supported a local business and the local people behind it.

Shopping in local independent shops does good and feels good. What's not to like?

I wish you a very happy New Year! Join me soon for a new Wish of the month, and tell me what you wish you could do in 2015.

I wish... I supported local independent shops (part 2)

Permanent independent shops are committed to your High Street. Pop-up shops are not.

My toes were cold. I had been standing in Uckfield town square for an hour. I say town square; it's a scruffy rectangle on two levels with concrete steps and a pebbledash slope between them. But it does the job.

I wasn't alone. Two hundred people, mostly parents and children, were watching kids from six primary schools sing Christmas songs on a temporary stage (the open-sided flat bed of a lorry). Two DJs kept reminding us that it was being broadcast live on Uckfield FM, our community radio station, as they walked up and down the stage asking questions of monosyllabic children and saying brilliant a lot.

After the third school, I'd heard enough. I hugged my friend Kathy and said well done to her teenage daughter, who looked at me like I was from outer space. 

Shops! That's what I needed. Local independent ones. Local was easy to spot. But independent...?

My search halted outside a pop-up shop in a normally empty premises. It was being run by the Uckfield Framing Company, an independent business on the industrial estate. Perfect, I thought. I went in. 

I bought a handmade greetings card by a local artist and picked up a jar of homemade spicy apple chutney. "How much?" I asked. "Whatever you want to donate," said the woman behind the table. "It's for my son's school." I dropped some coins in the tin and walked out.

Success. 

However, it was a temporary shop. What about permanent independent shops? The shops that want to be permanent, anyway. 

I walked in to The Bargain Store. Normally I don't. Well, you wouldn't if you saw it. The windows are covered from top to bottom in flyers and posters and scruffy handwritten ads. But today I would give it a go.

A bell tinkled as I opened the door, and again when I closed it. A real bell. I looked around. It was the kind of place that sold chocolate liquors, children's marbles in little nets and an obscure Latvian brand of washing up liquid in the same aisle. 

I browsed for a stupidly long time. So long in fact that I felt obliged to buy something - anything - so as not to offend the husband and wife who appeared to own the shop. I bought some chocolate Christmas tree decorations with a dubious list of ingredients on the back, and a small packet of Liquorice Allsorts.

Turning back up the High Street, I followed a crowd into Olive's Yard and found myself in a queue to see Father Christmas. Deciding I was a bit big for that kind of thing, I dived into the nearest shop, which happened to be the Lions Club secondhand bookshop. 

Again, I bumped into a friend I used to go to school with, Denise, and again I walked out with a purchase: Eden by Tim Smit. It wasn't my final purchase. That was charity Christmas cards from another pop-up shop on the walk home.

I thought about my first attempt to support local independent shops. It hadn't been entirely successful. Only one of the shops was independent and permanent enough that I could support it regularly. 

Next time, I'll go shopping in the High Street when there isn't a special late night event going on. 

Next time I'll go shopping in permanent local independent shops only.

Are you committed to your wish of the month? How could you make it a permanent change in your life?

I wish... I supported local independent shops

I do a lot of shopping in supermarkets and big department stores. And online.

Why? It's convenient. I drive to a big car park, walk around inside a huge warm building and choose from endless goods with brand names I know and trust. Or I sit in the comfort of my own home, browse big name websites and choose from endless goods with brand names I know and trust.

Occasionally I walk into a small, independently-owned shop. I might even buy something: a coffee and a chunk of tiffin from a quirky cafe in Brighton; a book about art from a dusty secondhand bookshop in Lewes. 

Each time that I do, I feel good about it. Because I know that I have supported that little shop. My money has contributed to the income of the owner, who may well be the same person who served me. 

Perhaps that little business will survive a little bit longer because of me...

But, when it is no longer a sunny Saturday afternoon in June, and I'm not ambling through a trendy corner of London-by-the-Sea or a quaint street in a tourist town with a visiting friend, I return to my usual mainstream buying habits.

It's not good enough. 

I've watched the news in recent years. I've seen the slow decline of High Streets nationwide because of recession and changing spending habits. 

Use it or lose it - If we don't use local independent shops regularly, they go bankrupt and close down. 

Another small business might start up to take its place, but often not. More likely, a big brand name will move in and open it's 295th branch. Over time, the High Street in one town looks remarkably (or unremarkably) like any other.

Or the premises remains empty, the High Street loses its kerb appeal, less people bother to shop there, and more businesses close. It's a vicious circle.

My hometown, Uckfield, has fared well compared to some. There are only a few empty shops. But over the years I've noticed more big companies move in, and big name charities fill in the gaps. 

I wish I supported local independent shops. I wish I bought products from them instead of supermarkets and department stores and online versions of them. I wish lots of other people did the same thing and the independent shops thrived and attracted new independent businesses and new shoppers. But that's wishing for a lot. I can only do my bit.

This month I will do as much Christmas shopping as possible in as many local independent shops as I can.

Starting with Late Night Shopping on Friday 5th December!

What is your wish of the month? What do you wish you could do by the end of the year?