Masala is Closing!
From:
Emma Winfield
Date:
Jul 07 11:27 UTC
Short link
What bath bomb shop? I'm sad I haven't even spotted it. Sadly, in our
investigations as a Community Trust at Seven Generations we realised that even
though eco things are 'en vogue' at the moment, there was no way Seven
Generations (Montpelier) could support a retail space in the face of online
competition and so it had to close.
The business model my new venture is adopting is mostly online selling but with
a presence at the local market. And for paint, customers come round to my
house and select their colours, watch me mix it, and take it away with them.
It's not as visible or as 'slick' as having a shop on North Street would be,
but it's actually very sociable and I am getting to know many more local people
as we get known as a local small business, which people seem happy to support.
Maybe small business is going to need to move from a shop model to a market
model now? This still fosters community relations without a huge financial
liability. People couldn't be more friendly or interested in what we're doing,
and the market is really good fun for us and our customers, so I don't think
all is lost if local businesses can't physically be on a high street (although
I would much prefer it if we could be).
.