A Store Visit Down Memory Lane
A post Covid-19 lockdown retail story
This morning I accompanied my mom for a visit to the city center of my home town. Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, my elderly mother hasn’t seen much since March, apart from the walls in her home. She really needed a few things from shops in town. It was good to get out together again, respecting social distancing and the new rules of getting around in a city center in the new normal post Covid-19 measures.
Our last stop would be a store in writing and drawing utensils. This local store has been around as long as I remember. In my childhood, many decades ago, the shop already has existed. I remember the store from the first eighteen years of my life living in this town. When I stood in front of the shop this morning, I realised that the beautiful authentic facade has not changed over the years, apart from a fresh lick of paint now and then. Inside, the shop has been modernised. Nonetheless, when I came in, I recognised the displays which present the many ballpoint pens, fountain pens and pencils on sale.
My dad used to love this store. He passed away four years ago, this Saturday. Not only him, but all of his family — my mom, my brother and I — we all got to know this store because of him. My mom still goes there. This morning she bought some materials she needed for her painting. The picture heading this post is one of her recent hand-painted postcards.
My dad used to be an accountant when he started working, and later on in his career he was a director of a mid-sized company. When I close my eyes and think of dad, I often see him writing, checking notes, or filing stuff which wouldn’t matter much to most people. But he filed it anyway. Sorted, alphabetised, done.
He loved writing, even in his time off work, or later when he got retired. Two of the most precious things I own are two pens. One is in black and gold; his last gift to me when he was alive. And the second one is an exact same pen, in black and silver, which he personally used. The pens are nothing fancy, nothing expensive. But the two pens, they are like him and me: joined up, forever.
I bought two new refills for the pens this morning. The store owner remembers my dad very well. He always speaks about him when we return to the store. He shares his memories of him, which makes my own even deeper and richer, even after dad passed away and I stopped collecting memories of him myself. The shop owner said this morning, that he still thinks of my dad when he drives past the building where my dad used to work for many years.
I had a chat with the store owner about how he has navigated through the Covid-19 lockdown. He explained that his store had never been closed since March. Actually, March turned out to be a proper month, as many people needed stuff to write, paint or file, being kept at home. April and May were really bad though. He decided not to apply for another round of governmental SME financial support. His business will continue, albeit at lower levels than before.
When we walked out of the store earlier today, my mother told me another recollection which the store owner had shared with her a while ago. My dad one day had visited the store; in hindsight it would — unknowingly — be the last time before he passed away. The store owner told a story of vividly remembering him leaving the store. As my dad had bought his stuff, and walked out, he looked over his shoulder in front of the store. And one last time, he waved the store owner goodbye.
Nothing can beat offline retail sales. Let’s support the shops in town, and avoid buying everything online. The writing utensils store owner will survive. Sales will be lower in the new normal, but he will still have customers in his shop. I am sure he will continue telling stories, and help create many more memories.
Stay safe
