Pop-up store opens today after deluge damaged shop and £40,000 stock
Indie retailers have to weather everything the world throws at them, rising prices, footfall changes, business rates, the fickleness of trends and even natural disasters!
And that’s just what Julianne Moore has been coping with for the past month after her MiMi greeting card and gift store in Hartley Wintney had to close following a deluge of rain which caused a flash flood through the village.
“We have two floors severely damaged due to water, £40,000 written off of stock, three-month drying-out time minimum,” Julianne said, but the fightback began immediately with a Secret Shed in the garden to keep the business going, alongside its sister Wokingham branch, following the start of the clean-up operation which can be seen in the video above.
And the hard work has culminated in the opening at 10am today, 30 August, of MiMi’s pop-up shop in the village – which can be seen in the video below – to keep things on track until the main High Street building is repaired and ready to be re-stocked.
Julianne said: “What a week we had with the flash storm – we even had an interview on ITV and a visit from our new MP! The fightback began! We had new stock and bestsellers on the website and the garden’s Secret Shed opened.”
She told ITV: “When we got to the back of the shop the water was standing up to hip-height so there was no way we could actually get into the shop.
“The alarms were going off, you could see the electrics had gone, and we just had lakes everywhere.”
The flood happened when nearly two months’ worth of rain came down in just an hour on 1 August, leaving cars battling through the heavy downpours and, while other Hartley Wintney businesses in the High Street were also affected, MiMi has suffered the most damage.
Staff at the Traditional Butchers had to block its doors when flood water began entering the shop, the below ground-level hairdressers Rural Fringe had water pour through the front wall ruining the carpet and damaging the electric box but was able to reopen the next day, and Auriol Wines had to shut for the weekend to clean up after water poured through the front door.
Julianne added: “It was one of the hardest and most challenging few days in my life and MiMi’s journey. Flood water and the aftermath. Thank you to everyone who has offered help, provided help and advice and just made me laugh, smile and cry. MiMi will bounce back.
“Check your insurance to make sure you’re entirely covered, thank goodness we were! Love being a independent retailer!”
“One thing I’ve learned over the last four weeks since the horrific weather turned my shop upside down, flooded my building and stopped us trading, is that smaller independents are the heartbeat of the High Street and we are really valued. I’m so humbled by the outpouring of love from our customers old and new and the community I live in.
“My shop has another 12 weeks before we can trade in it again but we’ve put the finishing touches to a temporary new building just down the road and we’re open again.
“I wouldn’t change my job for all the tea in China – we are a fabulous resilient lot who should be proud of all our achievements. Love what you do and remember you’re really valued by the communities you live in.”
