We usually start our Christmas week post by mentioning our holiday hours. But things are obviously different this year. As of the writing of this post, we are in covid lockdown, and closed to instore shopping. We don’t know when the lockdown will end, but when it does we will reopen with our regular hours.
We have a lot of customers who do their Christmas shopping at The Barn every year. That, like a lot of other things won’t be happening this year. Unless there is a surprise reopening of nonessential businesses at the last minute. The government hasn’t been giving us much warning on opening or closing dates. Given the current situation, reopening before the end of the holidays is not likely.
The uncertainty is the difficult part for us. Making plans when we don’t know when will be open is difficult. But, it is a minor concern compared to the many difficult challenges a lot of people are facing these days.
We are still open for curbside pickup and delivery, which many of our customers have been taking advantage of. Bobblehead garden gnomes have been the big seller this past week. So much so that we may just start calling “curbside pickup”, “bobblehead pickup”. One of our customers even requested a big box of assorted tin sings for pickup. If there is something you would like to pickup or have delivered, just send us an email and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
We will continue posting weekly updates with more “Quarantine Series” stories from The Barn. Complete with photos of new arrivals until we reopen to instore shopping.
I would just like to take a moment to ask everyone when possible to shop with local small businesses. The Barn will survive covid, but many of our local small business neighbours will not. Many small business owners we know are taking on tremendous debt, in order to survive covid lockdowns and restrictions. For these businesses to survive, they not only need support now, but also in the years to come. As they try to get back on their feet. And many brick and mortar businesses are just not well suited for online sales. So once the covid situation has improved, and you feel safe to shop in person, please do so safely. It will be good to get out of the house again.
A big advantage to shopping in person that I find a lot of our customers aren’t aware of is the prices. Many consumers believe that online prices are cheaper. That is true with some items, but the exact opposite with others. We don’t put prices on many items on our Reproductions page because we are contractually not allowed to advertise how low our prices are. For example the bobblehead garden gnomes that I previously mentioned can be bought online from larger online stores. But only at higher prices than the $125 each we sell them for at The Barn. Instore prices in many stores are better than what you will find online, depending on the store of course. So when you shop local, not only will you be helping to save local small businesses, but you can also save money, if you know where to shop.
Most of us won’t be having our normal holidays this year. Still, we would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Just think of how much more we will appreciate the holiday season next year.
