blog Hello and Welcome Back!
Tom Carter, Potters of Hockley, talks to Housewares on getting back to work and welcoming customers after a strange few months.
nd so we are back, well sort of! It’s still strange times and there are moments you do wonder whether there is light at the end of the tunnel. How we all crave time with the family and maybe even a holiday abroad!
A
Opening the Cookshop back up felt great after what seemed like an eternity. The customers have been absolutely wonderful and so support- ive. I don’t think we realised quite how much we had missed them, even the miserable ones! The best bit is that our sales in store have gone through the roof. We were assuming everyone had purchased all they needed online but that wasn’t always the case. We were concerned how this may have im- pacted sales online but so far this has still been as strong as it was throughout the lockdowns. Demand seems high and let’s hope that this continues throughout the summer months. This then creates the excitement of not being
able to get hold of any stock. There are many elements as to why you cannot source certain products at the moment. I cannot understand why the reps get a hard time for this, surely, we all know why this is by now? I’m having my garden landscaped at the mo- ment and have had the same problems. So far we have to change the paving slabs, shed, gravel and fencing due to supply issues and that’s not
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to mention the national shortage of cement. But let’s be honest, in the great scheme of things it really doesn’t matter considering what has happened over the past year. Many suppliers have been amazing the last 15 months and keeping us going throughout. Unfortunately, the last few weeks we are notic- ing a small element of bad service in areas, the independent sector in particular, when more than ever we should be key to the industry. If it is now the case that we are too small and it is only the big boys who matter then they should have the honesty to say this as sometimes this can come back and bite you on the backside. On the other hand, I have had some brilliant appointments over the last few days and seeing how others are massively upping their game is refreshing and genuinely very exciting. It is amazing how much you can be inspired by reps coming in with enthusiasm, new products, and a caring attitude towards us. This is so impor- tant due to the lack of the trade shows through the pandemic, but fingers crossed for Exclusively in August. Let’s hope the next few weeks start to bring some sort of normality back to our lives and work. We can carry on with seeing our families and doing everyday jobs without having to look over our shoulders at another lockdown.
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HousewaresLive.net •
twitter.com/Housewaresnews May/June 2021
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