Have you heard about the JUST A CARD Campaign?
When we started To Home From London and had just started our adventure in retail we had no idea how important and expressive the Christmas season would be for us. Yes, we all personally know how much we enjoy buying presents for our beloved ones at this time of the year but living it as a business gives you a whole new perspective. It was only after our first Christmas Market at Tate Modern back in 2015 that we fully realised it’s potential. It can literally make or break the year for an independent business like ours.
With a week left for Christmas, have you thought about where are you doing your last minute shopping?
After working 6 weeks non-stop, yesterday we finally took a day off to go to a Christmas dinner party and we were telling friends the effort behind producing and restocking all our shops for this week. Every day counts and sales increase significantly, except on the last 2 days before Christmas day. We always expect those to be the busiest days, but sometimes reality falls short. Our theory is that people tend to go to the high street and big brands for last minute Christmas shopping.
Every year we hope this will not be the case (and 2018 is no exception). That’s why I was so happy to come across the JUST A CARD Campaign as it addresses the feeling we are having just now. The campaign aims to encourage people to buy from Designer/Makers and Independent Galleries and Shops by reinforcing the message that all purchases, however small, even 'just a card' are so vital to the prosperity and survival of small businesses.
People usually don’t realise the effort involved in exhibiting at design shows or keeping a shop open. Stand fees, power, materials, wages etc need to be met before even thinking about making a profit. Running a shop is often a labour of love, and we are very proud to be running eleven this season (that takes a lot of love).
Remember: every time someone buys from a small business, an actual person makes a little dance.
So we would like to invite you to do a small reflection: where are you doing your Christmas shopping this year? 😊
Read more on justacard.org