Stone traders carry on serving community during lockdown
A town centre bustle has been replaced by quiet rows of closed shops after non-essential retailers were ordered to shut their doors to the public – but traders able to keep their units open are working together to serve the community.
Lockdown measures brought in by the Government in late March to reduce the spread of coronavirus have meant that just a handful of shops in Stone’s main shopping streets have been able to stay open.
Food stores, pharmacies, the town’s Post Office and opticians have been able to continue welcoming customers – with new measures to ensure both staff and shoppers stay safe, such as social distancing measures and hand sanitiser.
Greengrocers All Seasons has taken an approach from the shopping days of old to keep its fruit and vegetables safe for customers. In more normal times shoppers would enter the store to pick out their produce – but now they wait to be served from a table outside, while staff collect their items for them inside the store.
Mike Cashmore said: “We’ve put in our own restrictions so people can’t come in and handle the fruit and veg. People give us a list instead.
“It’s been hectic – we’re getting more people than normal because they don’t want to queue at the supermarket. It’s like going back to the old times, but it seems to have worked.
“We’re also doing deliveries to save people coming out. We’ve always vegetable boxes but now demand has gone through the roof.”
Deli store Mo’s, which opened in late November, was closed for just a few days after the lockdown was announced.
But Maureen Cowley said she has been able to welcome back customers – and goods including flour and cheese are proving popular. She is also stocking goods made by another local business, The Mill, which is enabling Stone residents to support the town’s economy even more.
“Footfall has been down but I’ve taken advantage of social media”, she said. “I have been advertising gift hampers, which has had an effect.
“My regular customers are coming back – I have really missed them. And I have had a lot of new customers coming in, who previously shopped in the supermarkets. I hope they will come back afterwards too.”
Customers seeking bread from Stone Baked are not currently able to buy it in the High Street store – but another business nearby has stepped in to serve up orders.
Adies Alley butchers Griffins of Stone is assisting Stone Baked with selling bread, as well as its more regular meaty offerings.
Nick Griffin said: “It’s not going too badly – deliveries are very busy. We have been doing that for about a year but it has really gone up at the moment, with people self-isolating. We did just over 500 deliveries over the Easter weekend.
“We have just launched ready prepared meals, and burgers are also doing well for barbecues. We are seeing a lot more people doing midweek barbecues at lunchtime rather than the evening.
“We have placed hand sanitiser in the shop and we are doing collections from the car park in Crown Street. This is a real life and culture change – I think this will change people’s habits.
"I think social distancing will continue for the foreseeable future and people are going to start supporting their independent shops again. I think they like it because it is one to one and we have the customer service. A number of people are saying they don’t want to go to the supermarket.”
The shop is keeping customers at a safe distance by operating a one in, one out system inside. Customers queuing outside have markings on the ground to show them where to stand safely while they wait.
But many other stores, including fashion boutiques, charity shops, barbers and beauty salons have had to close for the time being. Some are offering online shopping options – and Radford Street’s Artisan Boutique is giving crafters a change to connect at home through Facebook groups covering knitting, crochet, painting and other creative pastimes.
Signs in many of the stores that have closed indicated it was just a temporary measure, until they are allowed to reopen again. And some shop windows feature colourful pictures and positive messages for passers-by.
Josie Boutique in the High Street is sporting a rainbow poster with the message “Everything will be OK”, while rainbow pictures on the windows of Yum Yum sweet shop feature hearts and reminders to “stay safe”.
A message in the window of long-running High Street business Home and Colour said: “We all have our part to play in this fight, however small that may seem. We all need to stand together – well, bad choice of words but I think you know what I mean and what we need to do.
“We will be back. Take care and stay safe.”
