“Don’t forget about us” an appeal by Heathfield businesses

Three weeks into the closure of Heathfield High Street, the impact on businesses is just being felt.

The Heathfield News launched a #shopheathfield campaign and initially the community rallied in support of the traders in the High Street. This was much appreciated explains James from Cuculo: “We felt very well supported by the community and our loyal customers. We were able to continue pizza nights and although some deliveries were missed, we feel that as long as there are no further delays, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

However, this sustained success was not reflected in many of the conversations with other traders.

Pomfrets Butchers, updated us this week: “This third week has been very bad – it seems that people have slowly found the trek into town too much. The first two weeks were fine and we really hope that people will make the effort to come in this Saturday and next week and help turn around the poor weeks trading we have had. Then, we hope, we can get back to normal in the run up to Christmas.”

“We started off OK but then bookings tailed off. We are still busy on weekends, but the other days we have tables free and that is usually unheard of for us. We hope to make up for the losses in the run up to Christmas,” explained Dora from Pilio Bistro, the Greek restaurant on the High Street, where tables are usually like gold dust.

The start of the roadworks 2.11.18

Some comments on social media haven’t helped either. “There were comments on social media claiming we are going under and this is completely untrue. Times have been tough, but we can see that the end is in sight, finally.  We have lots of great seasonal items for decorating and gifts, and we look forward to welcoming people back into the store,” said Chris Macklin of Trading4U.

We also spoke to Miles from Tinker & Toad. He is one of the most vocal traders against the road closure and tried to get the local MP to leverage a change of date with the council, but without success. He described the impact on his business as “shocking” and described his losses as “significant”.

As his shop sells large items, he has had to struggle with loading and unloading and a complete lack of passing trade. He also felt that “no one cares and it feels like no one is accountable for this” and he warned that “there will be more problems in the future because the utilities all work independently of each other, so disruption is inevitable.”

Barriers removed 21.11.18

Rachel from Wanted on Voyage also tried to do her bit and was interviewed by local radio. She urged people to carry on shopping and to disregard claims that Heathfield is a ‘ghost town’. She commented: “We have definitely seen an impact on our sales. We can’t wait until 4pm on Friday 30th November when the Christmas lights are switched on at the firestation and we can all try to put this behind us and make December the best shopping month ever.”

The charity shops suffered from a lack of donations and have been appealing via social media for donations. Beauty salons were quiet and shops not on the high street also saw a downturn in trade. It seems that the only possible winners were the food outlets who have been feeding the hungry workman.

With high streets in decline nationally, Heathfield is lucky to be able to boast a range of independent retailers. The phrase ‘use it or lose it’ comes to mind.

After speaking to quite a few of the traders, we found them to be unanimously very grateful to all of the customers who have continued to shop with them. They hope that with the car parks and shops open this Saturday and next week people will make a final push to #shopheathfield .

The much improved completed western end of the Heathfield High Street