How to be a local hero? Simple… shop local and support your high street!
Mary Portas, one of the worlds foremost authorities on retail has been on our TV screens since 2007 educating shop owners and the Great British Public. She’s been on the front line, encouraging the British public to buy British and support their local high street.
To support Sheen’s high street, Mary will be at Sheen Living’s second Birthday on the 24th of November signing copies of her new book, Shop Girl where she reminisces about all things vintage and growing up in the 70’s. Click here for more information on attending the event.
I’ve been working with Sheen living, a boutique home and lifestyle shop, for over a year suppling my British made home interiors and stationary collections. The team as well as being lovely women, strongly believe in supporting British Designers and fly the flag for Shop Local. They are putting on lots of events such as the book signing for Mary Portas for local people to come and engage in the shop and more importantly know they are only around the corner for the last minute Birthday present you need to get NOW. Forget next day delivery and waiting in for the postman to arrive!
I love what Mary Portas does and I’ve definitely taken her tips along the way. I loved her series on Kinky Knickers where she highlighted the skills gap which appeared when manufacturing was shipping to China. As a British designer manufacturing in the UK I personally found this TV series extremely interesting and helped me understand the real issues my manufactures are facing.
Here are some top reasons for shopping locally
- Boost the local economy
research shows that with every £1 spent with small or medium sizes businesses 63p stayed in the local economy compared with 40p with larger stores.
- Ethical choice and building communities
When you shop at local butchers, farm shops and farmers markets it’s likely that the items have been produced locally, supporting the farmers in your area. These local shops and markets are also great ways to link with people in your community, community groups are often linked and when the high street goes these often do too.
- One off and unique gifts
Shops such as Sheen Living stock items which you won’t find in your department stores or big online chain stores. They are a great for buying that special someone a present that is as unique as them. When you know they are made in the UK they are also an ethical choice
- Supporting British Entrepreneurs
That’s people like me! I actually call myself an accidental entrepreneur because I fell into running my own business by mistake, but now I wouldn’t do anything differently. When you buy a product produced by a micro businesses like mine you are not only supporting me, and my two assistants, you’re supporting the lampshade makers, the seamstress, the fabric printers, the label manufactures and so on. See more on who makes our products and where to come from on Meet the Makers
- Talk to people who care
When you walk into a local business, quite often you end up talking to the owner so someone that really cares about what they are selling. They are passionate about what they do, and are able to use their discretions to reward regular local custom. If you walk into Sheen Living the ladies love interiors, they can help advice you on products that match compliment your existing colour schemes, work with designers like me to create custom products.
Hopefully like me, this event has got me thinking. How can I be a local hero and support my high street?
