A rallying call has been issued to local people to support Burnham-On-Sea’s independent shops in the run-up to Christmas as traders re-opened for business yesterday (Wednesday) following the end of the lockdown.
Burnham-On-Sea town centre was busy with shoppers on the first day of re-opening after the second lockdown, as pictured here, but Burnham Chamber of Trade says businesses need local support over the next few weeks.
‘Non-essential’ shops in Burnham town centre have been closed for a month and some reported a brisk day of trade, while others said shoppers remain cautious.
A spokesman for Burnham Chamber of Trade urged shoppers to support local shops in the run-up to Christmas: “Our small independent shops need your support more than ever after an incredibly challenging year.”
“Burnham has a great range of shops, all of which have Covid safety measures in place, making our town centre a welcoming shopping environment this festive season.”
Burnham-On-Sea.com spoke to several shop owners to get feedback on the first day of trade following the lockdown.
Sandra Johnson at Bastins said: “We had a steady day of trade – it was a slow start and then picked up, but there were no queues of customers outside at opening time. Our peak sales are usually in late November, so we’ve extended our opening hours until Christmas – and we are now open from 9am-5pm instead of 10-4.”
Ryan Mount at Seafoods said: “We had our busiest day for some time – it was great to see many regular customers returning after the quiet lockdown period.”
Lyn Lawrence at Sweet Shack added: “We’re delighted to be open again – it was great to see many of our regular customers again. Overall, it felt like a normal weekday of trade, nothing out of the ordinary, but it’s great to be back open and we hope local people will come in over the weeks leading up to Christmas.”
Raj Sansi from The Burnham Shopping Centre added: “It was really good to be back open again. It wasn’t a very busy day, but we greatly appreciated seeing our customers again.”
A spokeswoman at Burnham’s Peacocks store said: “The High Street was definitely busier today and we had a good number of customers,” adding that the future of the store is still uncertain due to financial woes for the national company.
Mike Lowe at Lowe’s Barber Shop added: “After being closed due to lockdown restrictions for the past month, it was nice to be back behind our chairs. It was a very busy reopening day, with all of our barbers fully booked.”
“It was a huge relief to many of our loyal customers to be able to get in or book for the rest of the month. It’s also nice to see our surrounding independent shops busy and re-open.”
