Enjoy an Independent Christmas!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and Maidstone is enjoying the Christmas spirit. If you are fed up of being told to ‘look online’ by shop assistants when you can’t find what you hoped, then why not try the independent shops in Maidstone which are generally a treasure trove of products where I have never been told to ‘look online’ and take my custom elsewhere.

You may like mainstream and online shopping but until you have tried shopping in the independents as well, you won’t have had a full shopping experience and could miss those hidden gems of stocking fillers right on your doorstep!

There are dozens of independent shops in Maidstone so open your eyes and find them.  The majority are based in Union Street, Week Street, Royal Star Arcade, Pudding Lane and Market Buildings – all in the centre of town.

With British retail needing a boost, Christmas should be the time when people spend, but figures from the Office of National Statistics in January 2017* suggest that in Britain the month-on-month quantity bought in store has fallen by 0.3%.

Retail is losing out to online shopping there is no doubt about that but there is life in the shops yet – and with shops becoming more competitive than ever, you are onto a winner as retail prices can now often beat those offered by online suppliers such as Amazon.

I bought a gorgeous fairy ornament from Salamander’s (situated in Market Buildings) for £5.95.  I found what appeared to be the same ornament on Amazon for £9!

As a shopper, independent shops offer us variety and good customer service and the great news is by combining online, mainstream and independent shopping you really can have it all this Christmas.

*Source: Office of National Statistics