Carl Dunne, owner of Cards & Gifts Sheffield initial reaction to lockdown was to cry. Now, over a month in and, with the help of his partner Ollie Guise-Smith and support of his publisher suppliers, the formerly only ‘bricks and mortar’ operator has a brand new website. And what’s more, having settled outstanding invoices, is using part of the grant from the government to secure a second shop.
Here Carl shares his lockdown blues and why he is now in the pink…
“Locked down what to do now?…
Day One was a slow sad start with the realisation that potentially I might be on the breadline or end up a fat alcoholic with nothing to do. I immediately felt I was falling into a pit of despair, having to deal with the fact that for the first time in my life, I wasn’t working because of someone else’s decision.
The uncertainty of COVID-19 and the resultant lockdown was something new, new to all of us, the like of which was only experienced since the 40’s and even then it was somewhat different.
The few days that followed were spent cleaning and waiting for the daily briefing from Downing Street. I was driving Ollie, my partner to distraction and found myself in a dark hole from which I couldn’t see a way out. Then suddenly, hope! Confirmation that grants would be made available to retailers and I fitted the bill to receive one. That and the chance to claim Universal Credit and, if needed, apply for decent loans things were looking up – there was some light above my dark hole, though I still couldn’t quite believe it all until I had received the cash. I was sceptical to say the least, not because of the government, but mostly because through bitter experience our council seems to do everything it can to slow or stop something from happening. On this occasion though, they came good and the grant arrived!
Prior to lockdown I had been re-assessing the business and considering whether or not to open a second store. Now with COVID-19 affecting all of our lives (business and personal), this was put into genuine doubt. That was until I spoke to the landlord who confirmed he was willing to work with me so we have a site sorted for our second shop, on the outskirts of Sheffield, that we will open as soon as things ease up.
And so while the prospect of having a second shop did lift my spirits a bit I was still struggling to deal with the fact that I was ‘not working’. One evening a few weeks ago, poor Ollie had enough of my woes and just when I thought I had pushed him over the edge, he set to with his laptop (to the detriment of his own business, being a cleaning firm specialising in cleaning medical practices) to build me a webshop from scratch. He sent a flurry of emails to our suppliers begging them for urgent imagery and product information. Bang, 12 hours later, I had a semblance of an online store! Some of my suppliers have been fabulous – UKG and Cherry Orchard replied within hours, while others were more laboured and others still haven’t respond, no doubt due to furloughed staff. Still, while not perfect, it gave us a presence.
Within a matter of hours we had received our first order, I can’t tell you how good it felt.
Now 10 days in and we’ve taken over 140 orders for cards as well as other products. There has been something of a rush on the giant number balloons that I buy from Jacksons, with another four orders set to go out the door today. It has been a godsend that wholesalers, such as Jacksons and BGC are still able to be open, if not for appointments, but for social distanced visits.
I try to provide a same day delivery service for orders placed before noon to my local customers and I post goods to those slightly further afield. I offer a handwriting service and virtual shopping option too. The reaction from customers has been wonderful and that is before we have loaded up the full selection.
We have just received some imagery from Nigel Quiney, including some great Father’s Day designs which is good we have just received an order for five Father’s Day cards this morning.
Prior to a few weeks ago I’d never heard of Shopify and understanding and being able to get online with eBay and Amazon marketplace seemed like a dark art!
I am so lucky that Ollie is a master of this underworld and got me working again!
Having the website means more to me than I could ever imagined. It gives me a reason, properly, to get up and go to work in the morning – and means I can reconnect with customers and in doing so generate orders for my suppliers.
There will be many lessons learned by all of us – from policy makers to retailers, suppliers to consumers – as a whole as a result of this period of uncertainty.
My lesson is to dig deep, have faith and keep staring to find that light. However dark it may seem, there is always a glimmer of light. I now believe that if I keep pushing and looking far enough ahead it will become bright in the end.
We applaud the NHS every Thursday evening for their efforts and sacrifices. I personally applaud everyone that stays home, protects not just the NHS but everyone and does their bit to keep the world and everyone in it safe and hopefully allow us all, my greeting card friends, to resume some form of normality sooner rather than later.
Stay safe everyone!”
Top: Carl Dunne outside the Cards & Gifts store in Sheffield.
