This Christmas, more than ever, local business owners and craft makers relied on the support of their local customers. Admittedly, all industries in Ireland had experienced difficulties throughout 2020, but the pressure put on small firms was especially heavy. These difficulties were not only caused by COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns, small businesses around the country also faced rising insurance costs and Brexit ramifications.
According to the survey research conducted by The Chambers Ireland after the first lockdown, over 85% of small businesses in Ireland have been negatively affected and had to close down or scale back. The consequences of the second and third lockdown are reported to prove even more severe.
The loss of earnings resulting from months of inactivity are merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of problems that small businesses faced last year. Many of those that decided to move their operations to the virtual world had to make significant investments to completely change operations. Those that reopened had to implement procedures to adhere to government guidelines causing yet another challenge.
Therefore, for many of the small shops, bookstores, flower shops, design shops, restaurants and delis that line the main streets in the villages of Ireland, including our own, it was more crucial than ever before that their local customers didn't forget about them while shopping for their Christmas gifts.
The survival and well-being of the local cafes, shops and small businesses, deservingly considered as centres of community life and significant contributors to the cozy and familiar feel of our localities became the subject of concern not only for the business owners but also for residents themselves. Luckily, recent research conducted by the Local Enterprise Offices has borne out the positive and encouraging attitudes of customers, as it showed that more than 82% of people in Ireland were likely to buy local, while completing their Christmas shopping lists this year, compared to the last year.
At Teach Solais we welcomed this news with great relish, as we fully appreciate local businesses are an extremely vital element of the fabric of our community. They forge a sense of connectedness and belonging and, especially when our lives needed to be restricted to fit in a 5-kilometre radius, their presence and services were more important than ever, and their benefits far greater than merely economic gain.
We decided the best way we could show our support was by developing a campaign encouraging our community to "Buy Local this Christmas." We began by designing a poster that was reflective of the town and decided on a modest composition, using the slogan "Come back Christmas Shopping to Ballyjamesduff". A festive pun playing on the words of the famous Percy French song "Come Back Paddy Reilly." Soon after completion, the colourful posters encouraging to “Shop local this Christmas” could be spotted on the display windows of the various local shops in the town. The Cavan County Council were supportive of our initiative and provided the specially designed decals as part of their own campaign to promote local shopping. These were distributed by our team members to even more shops and services around the town.
During these distribution visits, inspiration struck. We decided to highlight the often overlooked shelves and shop corners in the town through a promotional video. We wanted to showcase not only all of the wonderful goods available locally but also the people behind the counter whose livelihood depend on our custom. The video is available to view on our YouTube channel and can be seen below.
In a bid to broaden our efforts and support local entrepreneurs, craft makers, food caterers and artists during an uncertain lead up to Christmas the idea of the Ballyjamesduff Christmas Country Market was born. The Market was organised by Teach Solais and the Ballyjamesduff Community Council. Our task was to ensure a safe and socially spacious event, that adhered to all government guidelines. The Ballyjamesduff Community Council did a fantastic job in sourcing the marquees through the Town and Village Acceleration Measure as a COVID-19 response. The market was held every Saturday in the lead up to Christmas throughout December and was a huge success. You can see footage of it's launch on our YouTube channel or just below.
Check out the #BJDShopLocal on Facebook if you want to see more local shopping opportunities and initiatives. Don’t hesitate also to share your thoughts about our campaign in the comments section below and most importantly don’t forget to shop local throughout 2021!