It is a terrible shame that the craft shop nestled within the doors of the main Post Office in Salisbury has closed, a victim of these difficult times.
Linda, Jo, Caroline and Caroline were behind the counter, cheerful welcoming staff and I was lucky enough to be included for scrapbooking and card making workshops. Obviously the girls are in a sticky job situation; let's hope that their abilities in running a very busy shop, customer service skills and cheerful demeanours will win them new jobs very soon.
Losing a craft shop is always a blow - for those people that pop in and buy stuff it becomes slightly more dificult to source what you need, and for those that pop in and then stay for workshops, there's the loss of, well for want of a better word, community. In the last year or more (my memory is terrible), the workshops have become a monthly fixture that we all look forward to - yes, we make cards under instruction (that would be me, doing the bossing about), but there's so much more to it than that. Checking up on each other's well being, support, health, travel, childcare - amazing amounts of advice, we're all TV critics and of course, great recipes! It's true, and although it may not be the primary reason for attending a workshop, it sure adds glitter and gloss to the experience.
This is not intended to be a 'use it or lose it' lecture, but those customers know how important a real, bricks and mortar shop is for their crafty well being.
There is background activity to conclude this story, if you're interested, watch this space - if there are emerging positives to report, I will.
Very sad indeed. I wish them all well.
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