A town centre boutique is preparing to close its doors after suffering with a lack of footfall.
Stafford’s Boris and Barbara opened on Eastgate Street around a year ago, but owner Monica Pearce has taken the decision to close it because it is not making enough money.
The Portuguese businesswoman was recently featured in Daily Focus with a number of other Stafford independent traders pleading for support from visitors.
And whilst the physical shop will be no more, she is going to put all her efforts into online trading, a pop-up shop set up at her home in Stafford and also offering a click and collect service from there.
Monica, pictured above, said: “We have been struggling with footfall from day one. By the time I have paid my bills at the end of the month, I don’t have enough cashflow to buy new stock.
“We have the most amazing customers but we never get any new ones and that makes it hard to buy more stock.
“People come in, see the same things and give up when there is nothing new. We just don’t have the passing trade to generate the cashflow to keep buying new stock.
“By cutting my overheads with the shop, I hope to invest in my website and do more online sales where I have the rest of the UK to target.”
But Monica would like to return to running a physical shop eventually.
She added: “I’m 53, I do things the old school way and like to see my customers face-to-face.
“I want to open a shop again; I just need a break to get some money together by selling online and from home.”
An up to half price sale has been launched for all items in Monica’s shop.
The business’s last day of trading has been advertised as Saturday, 18 November, but there is the chance it could continue to open a few days a week until the end of November.
It’s very sad to hear of any business that has to close down due to lack of footfall. People complain that town centre shops are closing, but don’t go in to support them. But local shops can offer so much more in terms of customer service and I know through personal experience that Monica provides an excellent customer service.
Although I read your story with interest, I am a little bit confused as to why you had to bring Nationality into it?… Does that make any difference?…..Not really sure of its relevance