To think *some* independent shops really aren't helping themselves...?

[BeansAndNoodles]

I'm massively supportive of small businesses, I try to use them as often as I can. We are lucky to have a high street with lots of independent shops. However, my trips to town are limited due to being short of spare time, plus parking costs a fortune unless you limit it to the free 90 mins that you get in the supermarket car park, etc.

But time and time again I go to one of the independent shops to find them randomly shut. I get that they probably only have one staff member so it's hard to stay open if anything out of the ordinary happens, but it's still so flipping frustrating.

The last few trips to town have ended with me ordering stuff online or going into one of the chains because the independent shops I wanted were closed for no apparent reason. The independent health food shop is the worst, they close for an hour at some point between 11 and 3 for lunch but it's not the same time day to day and they don't say on the closed sign what time they'll be back, so if you get there and it's shut you don't know if it's worth trekking back to that end of town in 30 mins or not. I tend not to even bother checking now and just go straight Holland & Barrat instead. Several more shops seem to rely on posting that days opening hours on their FB page, but thats hardly a reliable way to tell people if they're open or not! Last week I had an afternoon off and took a trip to a different town specifically to go to a shop that stocks work by local artists to get some cards and gifts, only to find it closed with no indication of why or if it was opening late or what. I checked their FB page while stood outside but nope nothing. Later that day (3 hours after their stated opening time) they posted that they'd decided to open later for the Christmas lights switch on and that they hoped people would come and support them

Anyway I've just seen yet another slightly passive aggressive plea from one of the owners of the worst shops for this, complaining how quiet business is and telling people to use them or lose them yada. Well yes I totally agree but more often then not when I try to use them they're not bloody open!

Another one today going on and on on her Instagram carousel how she has 4 children and Christmas events and is also trying to run her shop, customers dare to enquire about their orders and she has to send them voice notes when she's out because it's quicker and her kids are screaming in the background. Quotes. I've unfollowed after this, if I want a unique item and good service, I don't come to you so you can offload on me, thanks. My life is busier anyway and yet I don't moan to shop owners or otherwise because I respect people's time. There's no question in my mind why those people are bad business managers and could never sustain a professional career. They can't even sustain their own business. The last thing that attracts customers is moaning as opposed to getting on with things.

Last night I thought about this again as I need something in particular from a local shop this morning. Checked their SM and their website but neither say what time they actually open today. Their SM is always very preachy and doesn’t have posts on what you can buy there, but I hadn’t realised until last night that it actually lacks some quite basic information like when you can try and go in to buy some of their things

I think it’s businesses without premises too. I worked with a followed a woman who did craft classes. She had a massive following and was very popular.
Until her daughter got engaged. Her entire business account became about her daughter’s engagement party, wedding planning…. She was tagging her personal account in so she did have one.
The final straw for me was the 4 day hen weekend with hundreds of photos every few hours.
Turned out I wasn’t the only one who unfollowed. My friend said she complained about losing followers and bookings were down etc. I don’t think she put it together as apparently she did the same for the wedding.
I think a lot of businesses need social media training.

Who wants to listen to a voice note about your late order? You are a customer, not a therapist.

I think that some smaller businesses lose sight of the fact that a friendly client relationship is not the same as a friendship

There’s a cafe near me that is open for two hours a week (!), makes you wonder why they bother…

haha! why even bloody bother?

I wonder if they are laundering money

Either money laundering or universal credit/tax credit fraud by "pretending" to be in a genuine business and over-claiming the working hours to hit the "optimum" to maximise their benefit claims. See it a lot!

Ha, a bit back I visited what could be charitably described as a ‘bric a brac’ shop in Brighton and caught a similar volley. I requested if I could therefore leave my (also slimline) rucksack by the counter to avoid this - ‘No, we’re not a luggage storage facility’. I suspect she just didn’t like people with rucksacks.

I also left without purchasing anything and was also unsurprised to see that shop shuttered on my next visit 12 months later.

I think there are more 'local' shops, barbers, nail bars etc that are actually a front for money laundering than we realise.
Hadn't heard about the UC/tax credit fraud thing, but it would explain a lot.

There are loads. Barber shops are particularly bad. We have one that has a gang of lads hanging out in it every night with disco lighting and loud music. Never opens during the day and never seen a customer in it. It's a really easy way of making up a nonexistent stream of "clients" to launder money.

How does the UC tax fraud work though?
I understand about money laundering but if you run a business just to prove you are working 16 hours a week then your expenses must be less than you can claim in UC.
I would have thought that after paying rent and all other costs, it isn’t worth worth it.

It can be very cheap to rent a run down shop, or even free if you "rent" it from a cousin or uncle! Don't bother with insurance (as you've bought a load of cheap stock). Only open occasionally, so your power bills are low. I've certainly seen plenty of it - they just "sell" enough to cover their costs and live on UC/TC. Easy to claim you do the right number of hours - it's not as if DWP/HMRC are coming out to check you're open when you claim you are and watch over you when you're doing the admin/marketing/training.

I was in one this weekend, where if I even looked at something she went, 'oh, that's my fave/handmade in Nepal/one of a kind!'

Agonising.

Had the opposite in our village. Local -run barbershop pretty much had a monopoly as only alternative was a 15 minute drive away. They treated customers as a nuisance, would randomly close early or not open at all for the day with their published opening hours bearing no resemblance to reality. DH would turn up after leaving work early to get a haircut and there would be nobody there. Would take weeks off at a time to go on holiday. Expensive, no advertised price list and when people dared enquire how much the hair cut would cost they tutted.

Turkish barbers moved in on the street and were open daily till 6pm so more convenient for people going after work, offered freebies like coffee while you are waiting, and undercut the local barber by at least £5. Much friendlier too, and obviously keen to build up a good reputation in the community. They took all the business through providing a better service at a lower price, and are generally busy throughout the day. Local barber is now moaning on FB about people not supporting local businesses and making veiled racist posts about foreigners taking over our jobs.

Similar here but with the ironing shop- you had to drop it off and then it was absolutely random when you could pick up, they didn’t answer phone and hours were erratic - started using a fantastic lovely cheery Polish lady off Facebook who several others recommended - she picks up , has piles of it done in a jiffy beautifully folded, to me is really cheap ( I tip her) and is always reliable - love her to bits - she actually sends me notes thanking me for giving her custom -and she has another job too 9 till 3 and has teens. the ironing shop shut.

Took my son to the Turkish barber shop which opened up in the small Scottish town where my brother lives. I have to say, if that particular one is a front for money laundering, it was doing a very good job of passing as a legitimate business! Two barbers flat out with steady queue of walk-in customers, didn't know "cool" haircuts, but offered services that old traditional barbershops used to, but don't any longer e.g. the hot wax thing for plucking nose and ear hair which seemed to be popular as every other bloke seemed to be getting it done!

I went into one of these shops the other day, and remembered this thread.

I was pretending to admire £30 brass earrings and next to it was a photo of her family with 'doing it for them' written on the top! 😂

I wonder if some of this over-enthusiastic interaction with customers came about after Mary Portas did that series about 15 years ago? I remember she was tutoring various independent shops about how to engage with customers and while watching, I thought - No! That 'jump on you, ask personal questions and be over-helpful' approach would make me run for the hills.

I like a smile, or brief greeting and then to be left to myself. I'm only going to buy if I can browse with my own thoughts first.

And another thing for shop owners to remember: I might come in 3 times and just browse, but if you make the experience pleasant I will likely come in a 4th time and buy something! Play the long game. Don't get aggressive with customers, give them time and space and let them relax. After all, no-one's going to buy just because they've been bullied or guilted into it - and they most certainly won't come back.

And have the humility to accept that if no-one is buying, YOU are doing something wrong, not the customer. Maybe you've misjudged your market, possibly over-priced things or your customer approach is putting people off.

After all, no-one's going to buy just because they've been bullied or guilted into it - and they most certainly won't come back.

And if they HAVE been bullied or guilted into a purchase, they DEFINITELY won’t be back. People will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but they don’t forget how you made them feel.

I thought of this thread because there is a shop selling artisanal pet supplies near me and it's never open. Her Facebook page kept tempting shoppers "we are opening soon!, grand opening soon!!!" "look at how we've refurbished the shop- the cost has been eye watering and we've shed blood sweat and tears making it beautiful for you!" etc and then when opening day arrived she was still shut.

She then used to occasionally post on her Facebook page "we are open from 2.30pm to 5.30pm" tomorrow so make sure you're there! the rest of the time she was shut. Loads of comments online from customers saying "why aren't you ever open? every time I come down you are shut" and said something lame like "we are just doing test runs now to see when people would like us to open" - people said they would like her to open Mon to Fri at the very minimum from at least 9-5, preferably more.

She ignored all the comments from potential customers and kept doing these bizarre Facebook announcements that she was open for 3 hours once or twice a month.

Her shop is now permanently closed.

I wonder why???? 🤔🤭🤣 sorry but I have zero sympathy for business owners who are this utterly idiotic.

Yep - it’s easy to say ‘all money laundering’ a few maybe , but plenty appear to be offering a good and reliable and needed service and working hard to do so , rather than ‘playing at it’ - my ironing lady I mentioned below the same!! There’s plenty of people want business that are ’short hours’ - not hard work and good margin - I know, as I lived with someone like this for 4 years- made it clear he wanted to be back home with his feet up by 4pm every day- 5pm at the latest if we had to go to the cash and carry and no kids involved.

I am sure a lot of people would love to earn a 6 figure income only working a few hours a day but for most of us, that's not realistic and the same is true for retail.

All the Turkish barbers - and there are at least 6 near us, are open 7 days a week from early until late so they work bloody hard for their trade- there is no opening for only a couple of hours a day for them!

Yep - the guy I lived with was quite a good looking charmer but turned out he was bloody lazy too - very much case of champagne lifestyle wanted but without family money or effort