A St Albans florist has spoken about the importance of shopping in smaller, independent stores following the closure of shops in Marshalswick.
Perfect Moment Florist in The Quadrant has placed a sign in its window urging residents to ‘shop local’ to help keep smaller shops in business.
This follows a decline in in-store sales for the florist, which will have been at the Quadrant for 12 years in February and otherwise does well supplying flowers for weddings and online.
Manager Samantha Jackson said: “We’ve seen a significant decrease in shop sales since a certain large store came into the Quadrant. We are just trying to let people know that if they do want independent stores they need to support us.
“The bakers has gone down the road and the restaurant around the corner’s gone. There was an undertaker here and they were only here for 12 weeks.”
The florist offers a range of services including bunches of flowers, which can be either bespoke or ready to buy, gift-wrapping and cards to go with the flowers.
Samantha said: “We are not a failing shop. We have seen a rise every year but last year was the first year we’ve seen a huge drop. I’ve had my own customers saying that they do buy flowers from Marks & Spencer because it’s quicker.
“You can still get a small bunch of flowers from the florist and you don’t need to pick up a bunch from the supermarket.”
The sign outside the shop, which Samantha is hoping will encourage more customers, started: “This is a very sad day that I have to write this notice. Our Quadrant is in trouble,” and went on to say “We have already seen many of our much loved businesses close.
“Soon this Quadrant will have no independent shops offering expert advice within their trades and we will miss this - I know many of you already do!
“We love our business, we love the Quadrant and we love our customers.”
Speaking about the notice, Samantha said: “It’s quite sad and I didn’t put it up for no reason. “If we don’t see sales in our shop we can’t have a shop.
“It’s just educating - people are so used to seeing flowers in supermarkets they just pick them up and don’t really think about the effect it has on smaller businesses.”
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