18-19.qxp_Grid 25/03/2021 09:54 Page 2
OVER THE
COUNTER
BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.
The
Relationship
Business
Roadmaps, holiday plans, vaccine shortages, third waves and European politics about supply… Conflicted? You never know quite what each day is going to bring yet you want to be optimistic, however somehow still feel a bit nervous. Now is the time to recognise that you are in the relationship business - in the product that is at our core as well as what makes us all tick personally and makes it all happen workwise. So, the official ‘opening up’ is nigh. I freely admit that like many of you reading this I am tired (both physically and mentally). Having a newsagency business I have had to work right through every single day, but the last few weeks has been the strangest time I have ever had in retail. Long days - yes. Strange atmosphere yes. Trading on a fraction of our normal takings - yes. Doubting and questioning every decision - hourly. Interestingly, our main Pozzi store in Buckie was given the green light to open fully. This came on the Monday before Mother’s Day. Environmental health and the head of the Council both confirmed there would be no closure grant or support for this building and we were free to trade. This is because it is attached to our newsagent business. You would think that this would have been great news, but the decision we have made is to keep it closed and just help people when needed still feels the right thing to do. We could only open on a technicality and were concerned how that would that be viewed by customers, plus there was also a reluctance from staff which had to be respected. Above: The relationships we have are the anchors to our personal and business lives. Right: The pristine Easter display in JP Pozzi, Buckie.
18
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
As a small community you have to be mindful of that and while no-one seems to think anything about the large chains and supermarkets being open, I am not sure how we would be viewed. We will need all the public goodwill and staff help and support! We have to hope that customers have really missed indie card stores and will return as soon as they can, but we need to be mindful that they have bought their cards somewhere else in the interim. While the experience and choice will have been different, the end product is the same. The British public of course love cards and I do think that will continue. I have been really interested and proud of so many of the indie stores I follow on Instagram and Facebook with the way they have communicated with their customers as well as how they have kept their
stores relevant and at the forefront of people’s minds. I loved seeing a couple of indies (Best Wishes of Garstang and Red Card of Petworth) putting their cards in the window with a grid system… “I will have D4 please!” The handwriting/postal services that many introduced I am sure many will continue and I think we are all aware that we need to look for more innovative services and companies that aren’t or can’t be replicated in the supermarkets etc. Writing people’s messages can be quite emotional as we realise how much we have all missed human contact and the relationships that we took for granted. And this is the crux. Relationships will be key in the next few months. On the newly sanitised Good Morning Britain (I can’t believe Piers has gone!) they used the phrase “It takes a whole village to raise a child”. This is the loose translation of an old African proverb which is based on a belief that everyone plays their part in shaping a young person’s life. This really made me think about our stores. With no trade shows, agent visits nor indeed any face-to-face feedback from customers we have realised that it takes a whole host of characters to make a business tick. In addition to this list, we have staff who have been sitting at home for around nine whole months of the last year and who will be somewhat out of the loop.