It's a South Holland sales boom
Lockdown and post-lockdown spending has fuelled a sales boom in DIY, furniture, home furnishings and garden furniture.
Spalding home furnishings store Charmed Interiors saw a massive increase in online sales during lockdown.
Darren Sutton, who manages the Bridge Street shop, is about to launch an improved website at the family’s Bookmark store in The Crescent, Spalding, so customers can buy online from there too.
He said: “During lockdown Charmed Interiors were nearly double or triple what we would normally take online.”
Both stores are trading with COVID-19 safety measures in place.
Mr Sutton says the improved Bookmark website will offer gifts by the end of the month and books will be added later.
As businesses re-opened in June, sales took off on everything from tins of paint to cars.
MG car dealership W H Brand, at Whaplode Drove, was among firms to bounce back to 2019 levels of spend.
Sales manager Adam Brand said: “Our volumes for June and July were the same as those two months for the previous year.”
Baytree Garden Centre at Weston benefited from spenders diverting holiday savings to improve outdoor living spaces with garden furniture and barbecues.
There are buoyant sales too at Hills Furniture Store in Bridge Street, Spalding, and Cross Brothers in West End, Holbeach.
Hills director Edward Hall said people are not going on holidays and are, instead, updating things in their homes.
He said: “It has been fairly positive over the last few weeks. We are rather pleased with the way we have come back.We can’t complain as a retailer.”
Kevin Newell, from Cross Brothers, said: “We have had a great surge in business since we have been back from lockdown - it’s extraordinary and more than you would expect for a normal July and August.
“Let’s hope it does continue because we need to spend our way out of this problem, don’t we?”
He said demand has been across the board - all kinds of furniture and furnishings - but it’s put a strain on the supply chain with manufacturers short of raw materials leading to delays in delivery.
A Spalding business that saw sales soar during lockdown is urging residents to back their High Streets and boost the local economy.
Timber merchants and DIY firm Andrew and Co Ltd, who have traded for more than 70 years, were bombarded with emails and phone calls with requests for goods.
Shop manager David Earth said they were very fortunate to continue business during lockdown, and they had two lorries instead of the usual one making deliveries.
Now many more shops are open, with safety measures in place to halt the spread of coronavirus, Mr Earth would like residents to show them their support too.
He said: “I would definitely encourage people who live in the local area to support any local business.
“It’s very important to keep the local economy going.”
Andrew and Co Ltd, based at Welland Sawmills, Little London, were able to trade because their business involves home and hardware products.
At the height of the demand, Mr Earth says the firm were busier than they have ever been.
He said: “The amount of emails and phone calls that came in was just phenomenal.
“Most of the staff worked more hours. One morning I started at 5am and left after 7pm. That was my longest day. It was a really busy time and a stressful time as well.”
As well as doubling delivery lorries the firm created timed collection slots for customers.
Top lockdown sellers included fencing, decking, fence paint, and paint for home interiors.
Mr Earth said Andrew and Co Ltd were grateful to have been able to help the community keep busy on projects in their homes and gardens.
* The shop’s reduced opening hours will be extended soon.
Branch Brothers in Boston Road South, Holbeach, had a busy lockdown serving trade and retail customers.
The number of requests for fence paint saw stocks dry up.
Manager Ben Callow said: “We ran out of fence paint - it just all went and you still can’t get it.
“I suppose people were at home thinking ‘I will paint the fence, that will keep me busy’.
“During lockdown, because everyone wanted something to do, it went crazy.
“Our timed collections really took off.”
Among jobs keeping people busy were home decorating and slab work in the garden.
Branch Brothers extended to Holbeach three years ago and the firm, which serves both the trade and domestic customers, has seen a lot of new faces over the last few months.
Mr Callow said there were few building and landscape suppliers open during lockdown, which meant they were there to help when others were closed.
He said: “It has increased business for us and brought us a lot of new customers with other merchants shutting.”
Mr Callow said it also meant tradespeople could carry on with their work too, including those who couldn’t get stock from their usual suppliers.
He said the firm stuck to coronavirus safety guidelines issued by the Builders Merchants Federation.
Mr Callow said the company also carried on making deliveries.
“You just kept your distance, no signatures or anything,” he said. “You just have to adapt.”
Coronavirus safety measures are in place in the shop, including screens at the counter and masks are worn by staff and customers.
The family firm was founded in Market Deeping in 1967 - a second site in Bourne opened in 1997.
New carpets are on our shopping lists too and some retailers are quoting October as the earliest fitting date for orders taken now.
L and S Carpets and Flooring in Marsh Road, Spalding, is one of the few businesses to offer more immediate slots for fitting.
Director Louise Wright said much of the company's work involves supply and fitting for new builds and rented properties, and a quick turnaround is always in demand for the rental market.
She said: "We always leave pockets in our diary system in case small domestic jobs come in and we need to get someone in quickly.
"We have always had a good diary system and a good workforce - our system just works for us.
"We are always busy but we have seen a little bit of an increase in domestic work."
Wrights Flooring and Carpets in The Crescent, Spalding, is having a busy time.
Joanne Holmes said: "We tend to be a few weeks ahead of ourselves but obviously, yes, it's busy. I think a lot of houses are being built at the moment in Lincolnshire and also people have been decorating at home.
"It's not all doom and gloom."
She says more of Spalding's shops should re-open to boost trade overall.
