Christmas Eve

I find myself in the unusual position of not being at work on Christmas Eve. Not earth shattering but certainly habit shattering ...it’s been 11 years (i am told...i’ve no personal recollection) since it last fell on a Sunday. Back then there would have been no question of opening as Sunday trading in these parts was still in its relative infancy. This time around it was more of a decision to be taken...though to be honest in my head i’d already taken it by default some time ago and merely cast around for excuses not to open subsequently. I could not stand the thought of coming in for the few hours frankly (that’s all it would have been due to trading laws) rather than taking the rare opportunity to have an extra day off for once. To be honest i think it was the right decision irrespective of personal preference. Sunday opening is still not a big thing in Banbridge and it would have been very hit and miss today in town...most down our way were shut. Yes money is very tight and every little bit helps (allegedly) but one most also bear in mind ones sanity. It’s about what one can deal with at any given point. My type of business does not benefit much from last minute shoppers beating the door down at the best of times and this is far from the best of times. Reflecting on the last time this arrangement of days occurred also has got me thinking about the changed nature of what we do. Not that the changes haven’t been staring us in the face for some time...but actual figures bring things into sharp focus and on perusing them from 11 years ago the comparisons are stark and revealing. The day before Christmas eve (or Christmas Saturday as we retailers call it) that year we lifted almost to the last penny on the  one day the same amount as we have taken this time around in the final week of six days. Just let that sink in. And that was not our best ever Christmas Eve. Of course it has to be said that while the statistic is somewhat disconcerting it is far from shocking...at least to the  extent that it is no surprise at this end. The decline in trade generally and in Christmas trade in particular this past decade has been steady and pronounced. There are many reasons for it ...the rise of the internet (barely a presence in 2006) and the proliferation of outlet shopping (still in its relative infancy then) have taken by far the biggest toll on smaller high street independents such as ourselves. Add to that the general economic downturn of recent years (in 2006  we were still under the illusion that the only way was up economically) then factor in other more particular local elements and the picture becomes clearer. For my own part the decision to send the business off in an entirely new direction, while unquestionably the right thing to do at the time,  has no doubt been a factor in that it destabilises things and presents new challenges. And finally my own personal situation(marital separation and some significant  health issues) also has had some bearing on the overall dynamic of things though that can be more difficult to quantify. The end result is where we are now...in a far more onerous and precarious position than i would l would like to be or would have envisioned back in 2006. Back then all was not rosy and retail certainly was no barrel of laughs...though compared to now it was a cake walk. I did not think so at the time of course and Christmas was always ...for as long as i can remember...a stress laden and frought period in the retail calander. The month of December accounted for around fifty percent of the years turnover and a bad run at Christmas was a disaster of epic proportions. Those last couple of weeks in particular that sandwiched Christmas and Boxing Day were massive...they dug us out of many’s a financial hole and no matter what you could always count on them coming good in the end. It set your teeth on edge and frayed the nerves when the final push was late to arrive...but deep down you knew it would come and bail you out of the foolish buying decisions you’d made six months earlier. And you knew that should you repeat them the following year christmas fortnight would come galloping in like the proverbial cavalry and save you again...and again. Well not any more. Not for a while in fact. The decline had been fairly gradual in the beginning...the high water mark was around the turn of the century but by 2006 while there had been some tailing off Christmas trade was still pretty spectacular albeit in a more steady sort of way. Over the next few years it dropped off quite markedly but then we adjusted by buying less and lowering expectations. While not the cash cow it was December was still a beacon of light in the commercial year...still capable of delivering a substantial boost to one’s flagging finances and enough to breed underlying confidence in the retail future..no matter how bad things got Christmas trade was still a bit special...diminished but still potent enough to shape ones thinking about things. Then about 3 years ago the slippage became a slide...and each year since has seen a sharp drop to the point that this year we wondered at the start of christmas week if this was finally the year that it didn’t happen at all...when Christmas was a retail no show. While there was always a lurking fear of such retail armageddon somewhere on the horizon...even in the good days...we as retailers never really believed it would happen. On the odd quiet Tuesday in early  December we might have wobbled a bit but come the weekend normal service was always resumed and we chided our lack of faith. This past few years it’s been very different...and this year the very quiet start to the month in the wake of the Black Friday madness (which benefits the likes of us hardly at all) was especially ominous. A poor autumn was shaping up to culminate in a non existent Christmas...the clock was ticking to

retail implosion. In the end trade did pick up a bit and the last few days delivered respectable enough figures given the general climate of expectation. Whether it will be enough to pull us out of what now seems a bottomless pit of retail decline ...or even raise us up above water a bit...remains to be seen. I’m not optimistic. The week after Christmas, once an even bigger event than the one preceding, has been decidedly poor in recent years...so i’m not expecting much frankly. Basically we are at the stage now of scraping through each season...hoping to do enough to get suppliers paid and keep the bank on board. It says a lot for retail at present...and our part in it..,that that in itself is something of an achievement. The future? Well who knows. It may be taken completely out of my hands. Despite my pessimistic tone i still am passionate about the actual dynamic of outdoor retail...i love the gear and i enjoy selling it. I remember the buzz of pre christmas glory days...of serving 3 or 4 people at once...of having to think on your feet...the sheer satisfaction of putting a sale together for people who appreciated the gear and who were a joy to deal with. It’s not like that now. There are few such people. A few chinks of light yes...but they are very few. The ones that are a pleasure to interact with are in the minority. Whether it is the faceless internet or the crap filled and soulless outlets ...whatever it is it has taken its toll on the whole landscape of retail. It is a strangely cold barren and increasingly jarring place. Jagged edges abound. There is a nastiness to people that perhaps was always there but was better disguised when they were more plentiful ...or maybe it’s just that people are nastier. When you deal with the public every day for over thirty years it certainly can make you jaded and cynical ...it can warp your judgment of the human condition. It also however gives you much insight...at least superficially. I’ve always said that any psychology student should spend time in a retail environment if they really want to learn something. It would be a bit of an eye opener. Of course i oversimplify but then who doesn’t...it’s the currency of the modern age to under play nuance and shade. I dare say the average consumer might have things to say about retail staff...i’m as much a consumer as a retailer and i’m not beyond having a go. But there is something about standing in a shop ...your own shop....filling it with stock that you have usually gone to great trouble to source and assemble with something approaching love...certainly with enthusiasm...stock that you have to pay for within (usually ) 30 days of delivery...in the knowledge that of no one comes through the door and buys it you are in the deepest of shit. If the great unwashed do not like your selection not only are you personally affronted...even hurt...you are scuppered financially. And quickly. Your very livelihood depends on a buying decision taken in some distant showroom over too strong coffee (if you are lucky) many months ago ...it IS your livelihood..your life blood....your meal ticket. You don’t sell you (or your dependents)  don’t eat. You certainly don’t get paid. Your staff don’t get paid. There is no fall back. Such a way of life concentrates the mind and us not for the squeamish. Suppliers (often friends) phoning or emailing about overdue invoices that you may or may not be able to pay...not because you are a con artist or an especially poor retailer but because no one is coming through your door and putting cash in your till. Some are understanding...some are bastards...most meet in the middle somewhere. Either way they have to be paid. Then there’s the rates,Vat, HMRC, light, heat, the window cleaner, the performing arts people (i can’t abide silence when the shop is quiet so have the radio playing) ...a relentless and seemingly endless list of creditors and grasping hands who give new meaning to the term implacable. And all the while you are expected to be nice to people...to say good morning and smile..at the tyre  kickers and the wasters as well as the potential punters. And if you dare to show any real emotion or genuine reaction under duress there is always some fucker on FB who never had any intention of buying anything saying what a shit experience your shop is...I could go on. None of the above really matters when things are good...and the tills are ringing.  When you haven’t seen a paying customer (as opposed to a shop visitor) for most of the day and some clown comes in at 4 o’clock asking for something stupid the mental effort required not to pick up the nearest blunt object in anger is considerable...and exhausting. Most who stand behind counters in the modern consumer age have tongues bitten to the quick...with good reason. I’m always much more tired and  lethargic when it’s quiet...i’m never exhausted after a busy day...that’s when i do get the odd one. And after such a day...or even a half decent sale to a nice customer...you feel as if there is still hope in the world...that it’s worth struggling on...that things might just possibly get better. Something like enthusiasm returns , albeit fleetingly, and you start to let yourself believe that the shop...your baby....is going to survive...and maybe even turn a corner. Such days...such moments...keep you going.  Of course that might be part of the problem. Denial is the foundation of self delusion. Hope is a dangerous ...though necessary ...thing. But for now it will have to suffice. As i sit here in a cafe in Newcastle on Christmas Eve writing this and feeling a bit maudlin i suppose any hope is worth its weight in gold...even if it proves forlorn. That is a worry for another day. And denial

has its uses. 

Happy christmas.