SHERINGHAM DIARY No 96 - Decision Time Arrives

We've recently made a couple of important decisions, that we have now reached the time to act upon.

FIRST
We will be closing our Cottonwood Home shop in Sheringham, at the end of this year. 

Sad though this is, it is not the end of Cottonwood Home as a business, because....

SECOND
We are focusing on two things to take Cottonwood Home forward:- 

- we will be doing regular weekly markets in Sheringham, artizan markets and pop ups in North Norfolk, from Spring 2024.

- we will developing our online web business.

The Background 

A few weeks back, we both found ourselves tense, crotchety and depressed in mood without any recognisable external cause. Through going into what might lie beneath this, what became clear was we'd both reached the end of our tether. Our desire and resilience to keep running a "bricks and mortar' shop was withering away. Despite our past best efforts, we just couldn't see ourselves maintaining our resolve to steer the shop through yet another economic travail.

We've had to endure and survive a lot of unfavourable external circumstances over the last four and a half years. The current economic down turn/recession - the cost of living crisis - has been the final straw. This has now made the running of a physical shop unsustainable.

When we cast our imaginations forward into the future, the long barren months of winter into spring lay ahead of us. There is huge uncertainly about what we would find on the other side of it. We don't believe the economic environment is going to improve, or turn around, any time soon. Particular given the indolent and divisive nature of our current government. 

A dramatic drop in sales this September and October, indicates we are already in the middle of a retail recession. We need to move out of High Street Retailing, before it completely drains us of all our emotional, as well as financial, reserves.

Though we have my pension, we still need to earn money to fully cover our living expenses. So we will need to seek part time work. For it will be a while before our focus on web sales and markets will bear fruit. Neither of us wants to lose the sense of independence and creativity, that making handmade items brings. What we can't do anymore is sit in a shop, whilst sales are flat-lining, or further diminishing. This has proved soul destroying, and has been sapping our personal initiative and drive.

The Future

In this era of Meta-crisis, its hard to sustain a clear view about the future. We have to travel forward, not blind to the possible obstacles and difficulties, but retaining a measured confidence in the quality and value of what we have been making whilst in the shop.

Obviously there are many things we now need to think about, plan for, organise, then carry out. So the next two months might well be a bit more full on than we'd like. But having made our decision, there is a feeling of this being a blessed relief. Similar to when you stop banging your head against a concrete wall - the headaches cease.