On a prior visit a few weeks before I had seen an item that appealed to me for our living room and on this visit it was still there, so I decided to take the plunge and buy it. It wasn't particularly cheap at £20, but I really liked it. When I got it home and cleaned it up and cleaned around the area where I wanted it to go, it looked like this.
The embroidered panel matches perfectly the colours in the room, and as we shouldn't be using the fire much now the weather is improving, it will look quite pretty instead of looking at an empty fireplace.
I also bought this book which looked quite interesting and amusing for 50p.
Our borough has recently become increasingly gentrified, which can be a good thing in many peoples' eyes as the general appearance improves and property prices increase, but this does have it's victims as many local people and businesses get priced out of their neighbourhoods. I'm sure this is the same the country over, but especially so here in London.
I expressed my genuine regret at the prospect of the shop closing down as it is one of my personal favourites and is very regularly frequented by lots of people from every background imaginable. If it does close it will be sadly missed, by me and many others I suspect.
What a very attractive fire screen - lucky for you it was still there. It looks lovely in front of your fireplace.
ReplyDeleteOur C shop is owned by the CO-OP next door who are very good landlords.
I know small independent gift or bric a brac shops envy charity shops tax relief but we need to have low overheads to continue to open.
A lovely craft shop in the village had to close when the rent went up considerably. It was replaced by an up market Estate Agents - which has since closed too.
It's a beautiful old building and sad to see it empty. I see that the whole building is up for sale including the laundrette next door - wonder what will happen.
It's a real shame isn't it. Especially when a shop is regularly frequented and fills a need in the community. The manageress of the charity shop told me that another national charity had been to have a look at the shop with a view to renting it, so it may remain a charity shop but it won't be the same sadly.
DeleteI hope the building near you turns into something interesting for your village. It must be very difficult and risky to start out what with the cost of rent and business rates before you can even think of making a profit.
That is part of why I want to try to spend a bit more money locally at some of the small businesses here, especially the greengrocers or market stalls sometimes offer better value and quality products than some of the things you buy at the supermarket. I just get into the habit of getting everything from the supermarket or convenience. I just need to make the effort to pop to the shops around the corner and spend some money there too.
If they weren't there I'd miss them when I needed them.
We are lucky in our village to still have two butchers & a fishmongers but have lost the bakery ( it's now the charity shop ! ) and both green grocers gone as has the bank but we do have the post office still.
ReplyDeleteWe have a really good independant grocers but I tend to use the Co-Op ( daily )
We have two newsagents, SIX hairdressers and heaps of cafes / restaurants.
Wow, you're very well catered for in terms of shops, etc. Sounds a great place to live.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad that your favorite local charity shop is shutting down. It looked like a great place to hunt for good finds, given that it’s frequently visited by people in your community. Hopefully, another shop will open as this one closes. Anyways, that item you bought looks amazing. I hope that will not be the last item you’ll ever purchase in a charity shop.
ReplyDeleteNorman Watkins @ Giving Works eBay