JUST A CARD INDIE WEEK - DAY 2
“If everyone who’d complimented our beautiful gallery had bought just a card we’d still be open.”
The above is a quote by gallery owners, shortly after they were forced to close and forms the essential message of Just A Card, a grassroots campaign on a mission to encourage people to support, value and buy from artists, makers, independent shops and small businesses. Every sale, even just a card, is vital to their prosperity and survival.
It's a very important message. Products baring my brand and my designs feature in stores at all levels of retail and I believe we need them all. I would never say don't shop with the big stores - they absolutely have their own advantages and conveniences and I enjoy them as much as the next person. My message this week is don't forget about the little stores. We don't have the advertising budgets of the big stores and social media is no longer helping us to be found online - It's much harder for little stores to be seen and much easier for you just to forget about us, but if everyone who visited a little store (either in reality or online) brought 'Just A Card', our independents would be thriving!
The thing about the small stores is we create a unique service and experience because it's our own business and we really care. There's no corporate regime to follow, so we can do our own thing to make your experience interesting and memorable. Often small stores are about community - being at the heart of the town or village where they reside and creating a greater sense of well-being for all who live there. And independent designers like me create unique product to make the stores interesting. Unlike when I worked in-house, I don't have anyone telling me what I should be designing based on projected sales figures or a gap in their inventory and that gives me creative freedom to come up with designs that are completely original and different. Creative expression is so important in allowing the development of lovely designs that make you smile! Buying from designers supports our creativity to do more of what we love, to make more of what you love.
Anyone running an independent business works very, very hard and that is never truer than right now. It is more expensive to run our businesses, while customers do not have lots of spare cash to spend on things they want rather than things they need. While I understand that many people will not be spending as much this Christmas, if you can, please consider shopping small for at least some of your purchases. When you shop independent, the money also goes straight to the store owner, helping our businesses to grow and flourish. Did you know that local businesses donate more money to charity and that research has shown that local businesses are more likely to spend with each other, as well as creating local jobs... so when you spend with an independent business in your area you are putting money back into your local economy and that benefits everyone? It's also often better for the environment to shop independent because indie businesses have a smaller carbon footprint than many larger companies meaning your purchases can be better for the planet.
Because actually (as I said at the top of this blog...) it's Just a Card - And a whole lot of love. As with other independents, it's the heart and soul I put into every single one of my designs. The care I put into making sure everything is just right. It's the appreciation you feel when you see something you know you have to own. It's the gratitude I feel that you are supporting my business. It's the joy you feel at helping sustain a dream, while simultaneously owning something unique and special. It's the warm feeling you have knowing you have brought something for a loved one that they are going to cherish. It's their happiness at receiving something thoughtful and beautiful.
Shopping independent is a cycle of love. Please keep it going.
Comments
Post a Comment