It’s been a mad few weeks. Our daily lives have changed, we miss seeing the friendly faces behind our favourite independents. We are sure you do too, so we thought we’d check in.
Not only have they had to adapt their own lifestyle to the new normal, their business has had to change too.
We caught up with Alex who runs La Biblioteka, a magazine and bookshop in Kommune, Sheffield City Centre.
What was your initial reaction to lockdown?
Relief, at first, as the week or so before that felt very uncomfortable, open when perhaps we shouldn’t have been. Now a low level-panic as we’ve fallen between the gaps of the government support, so the worry for the business hasn’t been eased, and we are still figuring out what comes next, like everyone else.
How has your business changed over the past few weeks?
We’ve moved most of our sales online, but, naturally, after an initial flurry, it’s slowed considerably, but we’re very thankful to those who do come to us. People can contact us via email, web, socials or phone. We still need to do more work on our website to bring it to the same level as our IRL experience was…
How do you see the long-tern impact on small businesses?
I hope I’m wrong, but I think we are going to have a very difficult scenario in 2-6 months, if the general health situation is some way of abating. Deep recessions are tough for businesses falling in the ‘disposable income’ bracket. I hope that more people find solace and escapism in a good book.
What has been your daily coping strategy in these crazy times?
My 10 month old, who is far too busy making everything a drum and waving at flowering trees to bother about the inconvenience of a global pandemic!
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