June 10, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
As lockdown restrictions start to
be lifted and many more shops are now allowing you to try clothes on, shopping
trips can resume. Although you will need to do them with your household bubble
or with up to five other friends, shopping can be a great way to spend the day.
You do need to be careful that you do not spend too much money when going on a
shopping trip which is why it is always a good idea to set yourself a budget
first before you go.
You can also break the day up a
bit by going out for lunch or even for drinks and cocktails or mocktails!
Often the best places to go on a
shopping trip are the cities as these have the most choice of shops. If you are
into your designer clothing and accessories then you may want to head to one of
the designer outlets such as the ones at Cheshire Oaks, Cannock or Bicester
Village. These retail parks often have a mix of designer, high street and
boutique stores so there really is something for everyone.
If you do not want to buy clothes
then you could instead shop for accessories as accessories really can completely
change the look of an outfit.
May 26, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
Over the last 12 months many children
have missed out on a huge chunk of their education. There have been times when
the schools have been shut completely and parents or carers have had to try and
home school their children. Some parents did this religiously and others really
struggled and found that they couldn’t get the children to concentrate and complete
the tasks that were set for them. Most of the children will have fallen behind to
some degree due to these missed lessons. The UK is hopefully over the worse of
the restrictions and we are hoping that after the summer holidays schools will
be able to relax the bubbles and social distancing rules. The government and education
authority are now looking at ways in which they can help those students who
have fallen behind and also there are a few different ideas being batted around,
nothing has been confirmed as of yet. There were talks of cutting down the 6
week summer holiday, but the fact that this hasn’t been announced yet, looks
like it is unlikely to happen. The other options may include extending the
school day for everyone by 30 mins or running optional class from 8am until 6pm.
April 25, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
Many of the high street and
independent shops have now reopened to the public again and although you can
now go in and browse, not many have reopened the changing rooms. Unlike before
where none of the changing rooms were open, lost of shops are making their own
judgement on whether to open them up or not. If they are opening them up then
they are giving them a very quick wipe over the handles etc before allowing the
next person it, so queues are likely.
Shoppers are expressing their disappointment
at how the shopping experience that they used to get simply does not seem to be
the same anymore. Lots of shoppers say they feel like they are being watched
and that there is a lot of pressure to buy something that they have tried on or
touched. It can be hard to concentrate on shopping when you are also trying to
ensure that you are socially distancing from others and be sure that you are
adhering to all the rules.
Unfortunately many of the high
street stores and independent retails have not survived the pandemic and have
closed their doors for the final time. This is a sad sight to see and many
other retails are struggling to make their money back.
Sales are on in lots of places,
but not being able to try items on it still putting a lot of shoppers off. It
is very hard for some people to go and pick something up and know if it will
fit them, especially when sizes vary so much from shop to shop. Someone can
quite easily be a lady’s size 10 in one shop and a 12 or 14 in another. This
makes it virtually impossible to be sure if something is going to fit you and
look ok without purchasing it and taking it home.
Working it a shop is not an easy
task at the moment either. They are trying to get back to some sort of normal
and let shoppers have an enjoyable experience but there are so many rules and
regulations in place that it seems impossible to do so. Many are reporting that
some members of the public are being quite rude when they are having to enforce
rules regarding trying on clothes etc. and that the whole job role has
completely changed from what it sued to be a few years ago.
March 20, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
Reading is so especially important
to a child’s learning and education. It is important to get them to read as
often as possible as this will help with them with many aspects of their
education and social skills.
It may be that your child says
that they do not like reading, but often it is just that they haven’t found the
right genre of book yet. Sometimes some of the books they have from school may
be a little boring. It is worth trying to get a few different sorts of books
and get your child to read at least a chapter or two of each. Some children
like silly or funny books, some like books with pictures in and others may like
mystery books or puzzle solving. Often children will like books by the same
author, so if your child does find a book they enjoy, have a look to see if
they have written any others.
Some books are fun to read but not
all that good in terms of the way they are written. Some books don’t use the
correct punctuation which can throw children sometimes, especially when they
are quite young and just learning about punctuation at school.
February 9, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
Unfortunately, this last twelve
months has been extremely hard for many businesses within the retail sector and
this has seen a lot of them having to shut their doors for good. Shops that
have struggled to trade online or rely on passing trade have experienced
periods of no sales at all and although they have been given some support, for
many, it was simply not enough. It is likely that as the shops start to open up
again as we come out of lockdown, we will see more and more gaps on the high
street where high street stores and independent retails are no more. Over the
last few days we have heard that retails Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Oasis
will not be reopening after lockdown and has been bought out by Boohoo, an
online retailer. Could it be that over the next few years more and more retails
switch to online shopping? There are advantages and disadvantages of this to
customers and retailers themselves. For the retailers, their overheads can be a
lot less as they do not have to pay to rent premises for their shop, but then
they have to invest a lot more in their marketing to attract people to their
website. For consumers, not being able to handle the item and try clothing on
is what often puts many off buying items online, but as many of us have had to
get used to this new way of shopping recently, it may be that some never return
to shopping on the high street.