December 22, 2009

Christmas Credit Crunch? Or an Environmental Shift in our shopping patterns?

Posted in Credit Crunch and the Environment, Uncategorized at 8:12 am by poshhotel

I came in to an interesting email this morning from a sports retailer (who shall remain nameless). It read:

“It is Christmas week and as a retailer I should not be able to speak to anyone at all this week apart from customers! Sadly this is not the case.”

Reading this email saddened me!  It’s Christmas and people still aren’t spending. I thought we were beginning to see signs of the credit crunch lifting. Certainly some of our hoteliers are beginning to see breaks in the ranks and their customers are beginning to step forward once again more freely, if only very slightly so. I agree, in a business capacity I am beginning to relax and look at how best to spend and invest in my business this year. Yet personally although I know I am going to spend, I am going to spend very differently. My outlooks upon material items and pampering myself have changed.

This makes me feel that maybe I am not the only one? That although this is another financial recession we will in time recover from, it has not simply been another slump, or depression. It has genuinely changed us. It has changed the way we spend, the way we think and how we perceive our lives. Yes its Christmas, yes I have just as many presents under the tree and will be giving the same quantities and excitement to my giving this year… yet my presents are far more practical, environmental and thoughtful than they ever have been in the past.

I remember not so long ago it was a great secret to shop in a Charity Shop. To actually admit that you had bought a stunning dress second hand from a charity shop would single handedly damage your esteem and confidence at the office Christmas party! Now however it is a proud statement to walk into a room looking gorgeous in a charity shop outfit. Instead of sneering at you and bitching behind your back, your friends are genuinely jealous that they didn’t find that amazing bargain first and that you look so stunning in such a steal of an outfit.

I also remember a time when a hessian bag was for the back of a cupboard or for storing items in a loft. I wouldn’t have even taken my lunch and saddle soap to my stables in such an item. Now however my friends and I are picking them up left right and centre as important fashion items to add to our outfits. We even feel a proud sense of achievement when we remember to take them into the supermarket with us! A flourish of greatness passes over me when the cashier asks,

‘and how many bags have you brought with you today?’

And I can respond with a triumphant smile whilst handing over my nectar card in turn for my reward. It not only makes me feel like a better person, but gives me a sense of empowerment; eco warrior single handedly saving the planet.

So what does this mean for our traditional retailers? Does it mean there no longer is a place for our ‘traditional’ shops? Do they need to adapt and become new age retailers? Yes we all know they need to adapt, but how? To what form should they take? And what how far do they need to change their practices of trading to be noticed again? Please email me your thoughts and feelings to jenny.arnold@poshagency.com for me to anonymously collate and share.

I am going to pull together my thoughts and ideas on this topic, hopefully with the input of others – you included, and then I will post all on my blog. Let’s turn these small independents around and get them back in the race!! Maybe we can learn a thing or two about ourselves and what we want whilst achieving our goal ‘together’ rather than ‘single handedly’ saving the world. email me

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