SF-October-2020

is often the only yardstick by which different years are widely viewed as a success or a disappointment in speciality foods. The year can be going reasonably well, Easter a pleasant surprise and a summer of good weather, but if Christmas is not as good as expected it has proportionately a bigger impact on morale and forward planning. When I look back on previous sales figures it is always November and December that I look for first. If you cannot pull in the punters then it’s very much back to the drawing board with a stiff drink. Or a stiff drink without the drawing board. Despite the year in which everything has been turned upside down, and that things we thought would never change have changed forever, Christmas is still here to stay – for a few years yet. Advent Calendar with a countdown through the 24 Days to Christmas, however it just didn’t work in the manner we intended. On the other hand, some small and perceived to be insignificant items can suddenly act as an inspiration to customers. Maximising community spirit This year will be our 49th Christmas. We have over the years tried to build a reputation for being the local larder, the go-to place for everything edible – especially at Christmas. We have got to know a lot of local people and often generations of the same family so we try to maintain these vitally important relationships. We get a lot of positive support from the local community as well as robust criticismwhere necessary. Community spirit can be engendered through appropriate signage. Not just advice and greetings to customers but helpful signposting to where the Christmas favourites are residing. Christmas displays can not only confuse customers and blind them to the essentials, they can also act like an obstacle course and disrupt regulars who knowwhat they want. One of our biggest problems at Partridges is receiving deliveries. The delivery windowwe have every day is just 2 hours and 45 minutes in the early morning. There is a lot of stock waiting to be put out around the shop and this – not unreasonably – annoys elderly customers, mothers with children and me who can’t find what they are looking for or get around the shop with ease. Maintaining your audience Locals are for life – not just for Christmas. We hope that for 11 CHRISTMAS 2020 months of the year we make a positive impression and they know what we do for the 12th. We have always had a monthly newsletter which alerts customers to ideas old and new, and of course our annual Christmas catalogue that highlights hampers and gift ideas. This year we are making tweaks to our website for online gift vouchers, bespoke hampers, cases of wine and promoting the products of smaller start-ups. Tourists are something of a bonus and we haven’t seen too many in recent months. We do get ‘local tourists’, however, who live in London but are from diverse countries around the world. Primarily the US and Japan. The products they buy seem to be holding up. We have had a flurry of small export orders and an increase amount of enquiries from overseas in the past month or so. A new approach The situation in 2020 is changing frommonth to month and it is very difficult to plan based on the experience of previous years. If I had written this in July or August I would have projected a gloomier outlook. However, since then there has been a return to a historical trading pattern. We are down on previous years but to a much lesser degree than the last two months. Going forward there are all sorts of considerations to take into account. The weather has been good recently, schools are back and life is returning to a form of normality in slowmotion. We have reduced some Christmas orders by between 10 and 20% but others we have kept the same. As time goes by we are becoming more optimistic about it being a reasonable Christmas. But one single event, lockdown, curfew or spike can alter things overnight. The main thing is to be positive – we’re all in this together. As a final comment, Christmas Themain thing is to be positive – we’re all in this together Despite the year in which everything has been turned upside down, and that things we thought would never change have changed forever, Christmas is still here to stay - for a few years yet specialityfoodmagazine.com