Viewpoint: Legacies of Lockdown

Our bus station stores are seeing far more footfall as people begin to travel again and venture back into city centres.

The convenience stores are seeing trade drop back slightly now that all other stores are open.

Having said that, the decline is still ensuring those stores remain significantly up on pre-Covid levels as consumers are now appreciating the benefits of shopping locally.

As a sector, our challenge all along has been to ensure we retain as much of this ‘new’ custom as possible.

We no longer have the sheer volume of footfall we had during Covid, and sales have dropped back a bit as a result.

Covid has given us the opportunity to showcase our stores, not only through our products but also through our customer service. Here’s hoping we can retain that new-found loyalty.

Last year, the sector united in grief at the terribly sad passing of our friend Raj Aggarwal. Tributes flooded in for one of the nicest guys in the industry and a man that I, like so many, was honoured to call a friend.

Raj’s wife Sunita and the team from Spar have launched the campaign #doasRAJwoulddo and it is something I would urge everyone to support.

I will never forget Raj, as he had a massive impact on my life – as he did with so many people. Raj made time for everyone and was always keen to help wherever he could. His smile lit up a room and his passing was one of the tragedies of the pandemic.

I know the campaign will raise significant amounts of money for excellent causes.

As I write this, both of my children are in the sector. My son Josh is doing his university placement in my business, while my daughter Emily is joining the team at Lumina Intelligence until her master’s course begins later this year.

Needless to say, I’m incredibly proud of them both.

By Jonathan James, owner of James Convenience Retail