As we approach the end of 2020 its
a perfect time to reflect on what has been an unprecedented year. Firstly we
would like to thank all our customers, both in-store and online
for sticking
with us during these trying times.
Back in March when the Government
announced the lock-down a list of retailers that were permitted to remain open
was published, on that list were DIY stores. Throughout the
lock down period
we remained open 6 days a week (with only slightly reduced hours) and its not
long before we saw an increase in trade both in-store and online. The
combination of the good weather and the Governments Furlough scheme allowing
customers to do those jobs they had no doubt been putting off.
The increase
in trade did come with a price, many of the suppliers we rely on began to suffer
from closures, staff shortages, working from home etc plus the difficulty in
getting the raw materials they need to produce their products made ordering
interesting.
We particularly saw this in our paint stocks, even 6 months
later we are still seeing the effects of the lock-down. We are however
resourceful and through phone calls, internet searches, contacts and sometimes
luck we were able to keep the majority of our customers happy. Naturally the
nature of the pandemic gave us the opportunity to try and source products that
we would not normally keep but knew were in high demand.
Hand-Sanitiser Face Masks Surface Cleaners even Toilet Roll. We did our utmost to
keep prices as reasonable as possible,as we always do.
The pandemic also
presented us with problems regarding the way we allowed customers to use our
stores, as with other retailers we operated a limited number of customers
in-store and we presented as best a one way system as we could, being small
stores this was a challenge. On the whole our customers accepted this and did
not seem to mind the occasional times a queue formed, very British.
One of the
postives to come out of the Pandemic is the discovery of
Electrosan, with the
need for cleanliness an absolute must many of us find ourselves using hand
sanitiser, hand wipes, surface cleaner etc.
Electrosan does all of this in 1
bottle, its safe for surfaces and on the skin, basically it covers all the bases
and is 100 times more powerful than bleach. It
kills Covid in 12 seconds and in an easy to
use spray bottle it really is all you need.
We will continue to stay open and
be here for our customers through the Pandemic lets hope it will soon be over
and we can get back to normal.
