The Convenience Store - the corner shop. Everyone's got one, quite local to them, usually on the corner of the road. Always there, always open, except when you run out of milk at 2am or the cat's just come in and wants feeding, then they're closed. We take them for granted, and then moan when they close down because the new supermarket that opened recently that's about 2 miles away, has taken all the custom, and they can't afford to compete and stay open.
It's not easy to run a little corner shop - ask anyone who's tried it, and they'll tell you all about it. I know, I manage one.
The shop opens from 7am until 10pm at night, every day, seven days a week, all year round. There's no rest for the wicked - just that I'd like the opportunity to be wicked once in a while. :-)
I hope you all had a very happy Christmas and I wish you good luck and happiness during this year.
Talking of Christmas - this season starts as the school summer holidays end. The little treasures return to school, and almost immediately, the shops fill up with tinsel, cards and presents to buy. Christmas trees start appearing and festive songs are heard as early as the beginning of October. Not for us, though. We like to retain normality for as long as possible, and it comes as a welcome break for customers who begin to get Christmas fatigue by November. Our Christmas displays start at the beginning of December, although we've had the stock since October, and by the end of that month, I've made my Easter Egg order. We always know Christmas week has arrived, as the Easter Eggs are delivered that week, which we always hold back until the New Year is over. We swap the Christmas card display for the Valentine display!
Christmas lunacy period is now over, thank goodness. It may be madness for the customers, as they grab the last minute items they have forgotten during their massive shopping sprees at the supermarkets, but it makes for total craziness in a small store which doesn't hold much in the way of stock.
Typical items which people forget to buy (and I know it will include some of you reading this), are as follows:
Tin foil - for cooking the turkey in Cranberry sauce - for dolloping onto your plate Gravy - for disguising the taste of undercooked/overcooked turkey Stuffing - for filling the bits that are hollow Crackers - the pulling variety, for the table. Custard - either powder or ready-made, for the pudding/trifle Milk - to make the custard or tea/coffee Cream - for desert
If you forget anything next year, (which you won't, as the list is above to remind you), remember your convenience store, and come early on Christmas Eve to make sure there's something left to buy! We even had someone eager to buy some of the decorations which we used in the store!
Not forgetting the mad clamour on Christmas Day for batteries, for the toys which came without them, cigarettes to calm the adults on Christmas Day, last minute Christmas cards and presents for people you only hear of at that time and you forgot all about them until their card/present was opened. We had a queue already waiting when we arrived to open the store!
Then there's the alcohol - and very upset people who can't get it. The average person has no idea that Christmas Day is subject to a different rule regarding the sale of alcohol, set by law. Alcohol is only allowed to be sold between 12 and 3pm on Christmas Day, this is one reason why you only find your local pub open then; it's nothing to do with the landlord not wanting to open, and have a day off, it's down to the licencing laws. We have to fend off very irate customers who want that bottle for a present for someone they want to visit before lunch. No sale - not even "under the counter" stuff. I'm not very sure where they think we keep it! There's no room under our counters for anything else but videos.
We had a few laughs at the expense of numerous folk who came dashing in during the four hours we were open for gas top-ups and electricity cards. Most had assumed the other half had bought some or that they had enough, to find that as the meal was cooking, their utilities had stopped.
We even had a few lucky people who wanted to claim their winnings from the lottery, only to be told that the lottery terminal was closed. Lottery employees were entitled to have a day off too!
Boxing Day was also busy, but we had expected that. What customers weren't expecting was that there was very little left to buy! We had been restricted to one delivery per week, due to transportation, and as fast as we had stocked the shelves, they emptied. We managed to restock and then New Year hit us, and exactly the same happened. It has taken two weeks to restock to pre-blitz levels!
But, as usual, the winter holiday season has left us with staff shortages. Our little shop is now manned by only 7 staff, and we begin the hunt for new members, whilst the staff left work like trojans keeping the store open.
This is not the time for finding reliable staff either. Most who apply are suffering from empty coffers after Christmas, and will only stay until they have cash in their pockets again, which could, if you are not sharp, be at your own expense, not just mine. The quickest way to re-fill pockets for some, will be to either short-change the customer, or to take money from the till, which is usually not discovered until they finish their shift, never to return again.
For those who read the previous edition, and wondered - yes, we did sell all of the sherry damaged chocolates, and we didn't lose or make any extra money on them either! One of the assistants found them all in a box in the warehouse, and as we had run out of boxes of chocolates on Christmas Eve, put them out on the shelves. In two hours, all had gone, which was a bonus and came as a pleasant surprise to me, especially as the previous evening had seen the disastrous theft of six bottles of champagne and boxes of chocolates to accompany them! Shoplifters have gift lists as well!
Watching shoplifters in action can be both amazing and funny, except when you have to count the cost of their antics. To show you what I mean, take these incidents for an example.
Two teenagers came in with a large bag between them and tucked themselves down the household aisle, whereupon they started filling the bag with boxes of washing powder. They then struggled to pick up the bag and nonchalantly walk out of the store with it. A sharp eyed supervisor, though, had spotted them and duly reported them via telephone to the police, giving an accurate description of the pair of them, which enabled the police to pick them up promptly. Supported by in-store CCTV evidence, the pair were given a suspended sentence and had to pay compensation to us.
We have also have the most stupid shoplifters ever trying their luck. One evening, a teenager came in and was spotted stuffing packets of sausages up his jumper. His exit was blocked and he was challenged as he tried to leave the store without paying for anything. He tried to make a dash for it, but the supervisor was too quick and grabbed his jacket, spilling the packets of sausages onto the ground. He was held fast by his jacket, so wriggled out of it, and after thumping the supervisor, ran for it. The cashier had hit the security button in the shop, which calls the police immediately, while a customer picked up the sausages and the supervisor walked in with the jacket and handed it to me, rather like a trophy. It was discovered that he hadn't taken the full priced sausages, but the ones which had been reduced for a quick sale. The jacket felt rather heavy on one side, which was caused by a mobile phone in the inside pocket, which the police examined and used to call him on his home phone. When the police explained they had his phone, he denied it was his at first and then said he didn't want it. By this time, the CCTV footage had been scrutinized and, as the police recognised him, they went round to arrest and charge him for assault. After release, he came back to the shop and ended up being arrested again, this time for criminal damage and threatening behaviour! That little episode cost him six months, spent at Her Majesty's Pleasure, at one of the top-class establishments.
The best of the lot has to be two local drug addicts, who shop-lift to fund their habit. Teenagers again, known to all the staff and local police alike, but they are very smart, and usually know where to target. They decided to try their luck in the store and, noticing the cameras, the tallest one of them reached up and moved the one covering the chocolate boxes, so it faced in a different direction. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong direction to move it, and unwittingly targeted the other one, having a grand time raiding the chilled food section. We couldn't have wished for a better video as it clearly showed him placing the goods in his jacket and down his trousers! When questioned after arrest, he named his accomplice and his haul which, fortunately for us, held up in court and the pair received 6 months on a drug rehabilitation program in a centre away from the area. Sadly, the detention did not work, and they are both still offending, although not together. I doubt they trust each other now.
We get less shoplifting incidents than larger stores, but CCTV coverage in towns can drive the desperate to out-of-town areas. In our area, we have the reputation of "the police shop", as we do report all incidents and press charges whenever possible. The general public could do much more to help by refusing to buy anything from someone selling produce door to door. Coffee, cheese, bacon, sausages, chocolates of many varieties, washing powder and baby products are prime examples. If offered anything like this, please be public spirited and phone your local police, offering a description and any other details they may require. Ultimately, we all suffer, as costs have to be recovered, so prices go up!
End.
