Fingers crossed
Speaking of which, I see Parliament are debating golf on Monday and even if lockdown continues, I'm very hopeful golf will be allowed to commence irrespective. It hardly seems as if we're in lockdown anyway - they seem to have merely closed small independent businesses like ours, hospitality and leisure. It's key to realise that for all privately owned businesses, like the golf club and like our own PGA club shop operation, that your loyalty is more than appreciated - in fact it's vital for our survival. Through conversations during the year, particularly with newer members, it's clear that not everyone realises that at the club I run the shop as a separate entitity, as a sole trader, a self-employed family business in fact - with Katie, Simon and Lewis all playing vital roles and creating employment for four other people, plus of course all the usual business costs associated with running a retail establishment. In fact, some of the longer-standing members didn't realise that we had to buy all the stock for the shop - they thought it was all on a sale or return basis! Unfortunately, that's not how retail works. The quiet days, or when the course is closed and the till never opens are a big hit to our cashflow (I still have to pay the staff as we don't do zero-hour contracts), but these are the days when we get busy utilising the time and planning for better days ahead. A downturn in visitor green fees, buggy hires, retail revenue, and reduced competition winnings of course all have a big impact too, as they would for any business. During lockdown Katie and I have been at the club everyday, in fact, I've been clocking up some 12 hour days to make sure we maximise the time after a very busy Summer and Autumn. Your support is very much appreciated and as we move into Christmas and the New Year, we have plenty of ways that you can shop and make many people happy! PLUS, of course you can use all the credits that you've built up from competition winnings during the year, which is such a positive as there was a long period when we didn't think comps would even take place. Some of the activities we now have in place include: 1. We're running an online Zoom fashion show for the ladies next week - details are to be found below. 2. For everyone we have plenty of items that you can ask us to reserve in the shop and you're allowed to make collections during lockdown. 3. We'll be showcasing all the clothing on the Facebook page next week 4. You can also click and collect on the Foremost site by clicking here. 5. Finally we've set up a new PayPal link so you can order vouchers for pretty much anything you like by just clicking the link and selecting your voucher of choice. See details below. If there's anything else we can do, please just ask.
|