Holly Wilson’s From the frontline

Holly Wilson’s

From The Frontline

The summer is finally here. As I type, we are in the middle of a heatwave which is glorious, but it is certainly affecting trade. Everyone is too hot to shop, and they want to be out and about now that we can be. It is also the end of term, so it is time for everyone to pack up and run for the beaches and leave London to sweat on its own.

Sunshine and stock

Freedom Day has come and gone, and we have been left hanging again. Restrictions have been lifted but with cases rising it feels like everyone I know has Covid at the moment or has been pinged. I cannot believe that I have managed to avoid my kids’ school bubbles collapsing, so I feel very lucky. All my shopkeeper friends are feeling pretty deserted. Lots of younger staff are not yet vaccinated or only have one vaccine and are now being asked to work all day in a small space with customers who do not have to wear masks. I must be honest and say that most of our customers throughout have been happy or at least agreed to wear masks without too much protest. We have however had our share of customers who are unhappy and want to make their thoughts on the subject very clear. This was OK when we were protected by law and people had to wear one; we were within our rights to demand a face mask or deny service. But now, we are left to make these decisions for ourselves and suffer the consequences. We decided as a street that our staff would still feel safer wearing masks at this time and at least until they are all double vaccinated. We also decided that we would still ask customers to wear a mask if they felt happy to do so and having a united front across the street would hopefully make this more palatable. I have to say that everyone is still wearing a mask without asking. It has become the norm and as much as I hate it - it is hard being in the shop all day wearing one - I still feel uncomfortable not wearing one in public places. It seems I’m not the only one! I am however enjoying just being able to turn up to the pub and order a drink at the bar. I’m not organised enough to pre-book tables and table service is great, but it is not the same. We are hoping to get to Exclusively at the end of August and finally see some new products. Top Drawer will follow shortly but it looks like Maison & Objet is a step too far this year. Maybe in the new year? I feel like I said that already - last year! We are also in the middle of trying to make sure we have stock for the second half. As always, my stock room holds me back but also with the unpredictability of sales and cash flow it is quite hard to be brave. We are still seeing huge gaps in stock and prices soaring. I am sure we are all fearing how this is going to play out in the second half. I normally order in a fairly ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ fashion at Christmas and rely on my wonderful suppliers having my back…and the stock. But this year we are forcing ourselves to plan and order in advance like never before to ensure we have the stock we need. I am still not convinced that we will be well stocked come the last quarter, but we live in hope. In the meantime, I will be heading to Devon (along with the rest of the country) for some quality family time and some R&R before we have to deal with the reality of the second half. Enjoy the rest of the summer and see you at the shows!

Inset: Holly Wilson, owner of Prep Cookshop and Richard Dare, North London.

Inest: An interior view of Prep Cookshop. Holly Wilson is the owner of two award winning North London cookshops: Prep in Stoke Newington and Richard Dare in Primrose Hill.