The Ramblings of an SW14 Shopkeeper

I have never been one to write blogs, as my dyslexia often prevents me from feeling confident in doing so. Reflecting on this crazy year, along with watching reruns of Sex And The City, I have decided to channel my inner Carrie Bradshaw and attempt my first ever blog! So here we go…

Another 3 weeks of not being able to do what we love in the shop has given me extra hours that I don’t really want, to fill them doing things that I don’t want to do. Things I find difficult and, frankly, things I'm not so good at. Many of us have been pushed to the boundaries of what we thought we were capable of, and certainly have had to take on jobs we did not believe we were designed for. Basically I miss doing what I am good at but most of all, I miss the human interaction of my shop.

You see, I’m a shopkeeper. The definition of which is, according to the Oxford English dictionary; ‘…a person who owns or manages a small shop’. That’s me!

That’s what I am. I like people. I like talking to people. Most of all I like helping people and making them feel better - which is why I own a shop. If you cut me in half like a stick of rock it would say shopkeeper all the way through, and I'm proud of that.

Yes I sell products for money but it’s never really about the money for me, it’s whether I’ve done a good job and made somebody feel better. Of course I want to keep the shop going and employ the people I love working with, but I also want you to love what we have chosen for you. That’s how I feel about my shop; it’s a people place, human to human.

This is where it gets tricky - because along with jobs, our freedom and health (and in many cases, lives) this virus has also robbed us of the ability to be human with each other. Almost every aspect of our lives has become digital. Despite this, I firmly believe that virtual bra fittings will never work. There is no getting around it. A proper fitting is so much more than the actual bra. It’s a positive experience to make you feel better, like a hairdressing appointment or time spent with your beauty therapist. It feels like these sorts of experiences should be a basic female human right.

Until we can start doing what we do best again I'll sift through the endless emails on my computer, as picking up the phone and talking to another human seems to become increasingly difficult these days. I get it, on the phone you can’t go away and think about it or ask someone else. So I’ll sit here with my emails, helping you digitally wherever possible, with my fingers crossed hoping that very soon we can all get back to doing what we do best.

As I sit here looking at the screen of colourful dots, choosing the colour palette of t-shirts for the next Spring/Summer season, I am hopeful that next year will be fabulous for all of us. We will get back to something nearer normal life. We will look forward to hugging, laughing, special events, holidays… everything that we have missed beyond belief in 2020.

Thanks for reading, sending virtual hugs to all of you. Jackie x