Why I’ve made a vow not to spend a penny on Amazon this Christmas and support independents instead - Andrew Vine

A COUPLE of independent shops close to where I live have put the “closed” signs up for the last time.
Christmas shopping is likely to look different this year - but there are still ways people can support local businesses.Christmas shopping is likely to look different this year - but there are still ways people can support local businesses.
Christmas shopping is likely to look different this year - but there are still ways people can support local businesses.

One sold shoes, the other cards and gifts. No more. All that’s left in the windows of both are notes from the owners thanking their customers over the years for shopping there, which makes the closures all the more regrettable, because it speaks of a genuine appreciation of the people who spent money with them.

I don’t suppose for a second that the closures of a couple of small shops on suburban parades will register even the smallest blip on a Government minister’s radar.

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Nor will the handful of people out of work as a result be noticed against the backdrop of an estimated 300,000 who have already lost their jobs since the first national lockdown in spring.

Andrew Vine says he won't be giving his money to Amazon.Andrew Vine says he won't be giving his money to Amazon.
Andrew Vine says he won't be giving his money to Amazon.

But those two shops have been driven out of business by the pandemic just as certainly as any high-street chain.

Everybody in Yorkshire who makes a point of using shops close to where they live will have a similar story to tell, of independent businesses going under through no fault of their own.

Even if they survived months of lockdown in spring and summer, their owners getting by on loans or savings until being allowed to reopen, this second enforced closure has proved just too much to bear.

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And if – as is possible – the lockdown is extended beyond December 2, there will be yet more losses.

The bleak winter that our shopping streets face has been spelt out by more than 60 chief executives – including those of Marks and Spencer and Harvey Nichols – who joined forces with the British Retail Consortium to warn the Government of the long-term consequences of remaining shut.

More than £2bn a week is being lost by non-essential retailers banned from opening – and if they lose the Christmas trade that accounts for more than a fifth of all annual takings, hundreds of thousands of jobs will go with it.

High streets were already suffering even before Covid-19 hit. Walk around any town or city centre in Yorkshire, and the toll taken by the online shopping boom is plain to see in the number of empty premises.

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Lockdowns have turned that headwind battering retailers into a perfect storm. They have driven even more shoppers online and made coaxing them back onto high streets all the harder.

But when the shops do reopen, we’ve all got to get out and support them, not just for the sake of all the people who work there but for the sake of the communities of which they are such a vital component.

I’ve already made a vow to myself not to put a penny into online giants such as Amazon for Christmas gifts.

Instead, I’ll wait until shops are open again and wherever possible spend whatever I have with independents. If I can buy what I need locally, so much the better.

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Quite a few people I know intend to do likewise and all of us hope it makes a difference. This is about everybody doing their bit for communities, just as it has been in observing lockdown rules and playing an individual part in suppressing the spread of the virus.

None of us want to see shopping streets we’ve known and loved for years decimated, with people who have worked hard to build up their businesses and value customers brought down by factors beyond their control.

If our high streets become desolate places filled with empty shops sinking into dereliction, they will drag towns and cities down with them, corroding their characters and sense of place. Deprivation and social problems will inevitably follow. Preventing that from happening will hopefully strike a chord with many people who have rediscovered the value of a sense of community over the course of this desperately difficult year.

If there’s one good thing to come out of everything we have been through, it is that people have become more closely linked to those around them, even though separated. Neighbours have got to know each other better, and looked out for each other.

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Well, now it’s time to look out for the wider community as well – the shops just down the road, or a bus ride away in the centre of town, and the people who work in them.

These businesses deserve the chance to survive this pandemic. The Government can – and should – help by extending the business rate holiday, but that won’t be enough in itself. Customers need to get out there as soon as they can and rediscover the joys of Christmas shopping in person, of dealing with helpful and friendly owners or staff who are genuinely pleased to see them. We mustn’t let our shops die. The places where we all live would be immeasurably poorer if they did, and who could possibly want that to happen?

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