Indie greetings retailer and mums are Town & City Gift Card YouTube stars
Fourteen busy mums, including a leading greetings retailer, have taken part in a Mums Love Local campaign encouraging people to think about staying close to home when they go for Mother’s Day treats this Sunday, 19 March, with the initiative supporting small businesses at the same time.
Pencil Me In owner Sarah Holmes was among those interviewed from across the UK for the Town & City Gift Card promotion, and asked how she would consider spending a gift card in her local area of Elgin.
“I’m probably going straight down to Batchen Street Coffee to order their amazing French toast and eating it in there and then going along to the music shop,” Sarah said.
And in the video – which can be watched below – Jennie Kane, manager of KeepSakes in Inverness, one of six independent gift and greeting card stores in Scotland, added: “Shopping locally feels more vibrant, and I really hope that we can get back to a world where people come back into shops instead of buying online.”
The businesses, all owned or operated by mums, are part of their local economy, boosting the Town & City Gift Card programme of local gift cards that can be spent in shops, restaurants, salons, cafés and more, with both High Street brands and independents.
Spanning retail, hospitality, health, beauty and services, the mums were positive about the benefits of shopping local, highlighting keeping businesses open, employing local people, and keeping towns and cities vibrant and thriving.
Laura Heywood at Scented Garden in Chester explained she’d actually received one of the gift cards herself for Christmas and revealed she “had great joy looking online at all the local retailers that were on there”.
The mums talked about having meals out, enjoying different experiences such as massages, visiting the local speciality chocolate shop, buying nice make-up – and one even mentioned diamonds, so long as they were bought locally!
Top: Mums explain why they love local in the YouTube video
