Pessimism about the weather.

[Tombo46]

We all know that the good people of Britain love to talk about the weather. That's always been the norm and has been perfectly acceptable since well...forever.

Just recently I've noticed a distinct lack of optimism about the weather. This Summer in particular. It is of great annoyance to me as I HAVE to believe this Summer is going to be at least half decent.

Even with the recent few days of good weather I had people coming in telling me how "it's going to snow tomorrow" and "Did you hear we're going to get 279 years worth of rain in 3 days?".

I don't even think the newspapers are talking about that "Indian Summer" they're always promising!

It's very petty but it's actually starting to irritate me a lot. Like a lot of you, I had a very very rough summer last year that had a lasting effect on trade throughout the autumn/winter. It's still affecting my trade even now. We were about £40k down last year and profit margins have also shrunk considerably. Even with all this, I didn't consistently moan about the weather. I just accepted the fact that there is nothing I can do about it and to try to limit the damage to my business as much as possible.

The thing that annoys me is the sort of people who are complaining. They aren't business owners. They don't rely on the weather to keep them in a job or with a wage. The only thing they have to worry about when it rains is drying the dog off after a walk or whether to cancel their game of golf. At the tail end of last year people were coming in saying how upset they were having to walk the dog in it and here I was, struggling to make a living. That's like going to a poverty stricken country and complaining about how hungry you are to the starving children.

I feel better for that...Can you tell it's been a quiet day? haha

 

[PDC]

Hope you do feel better for that.

It certainly hasn't been the best start to the year but we can all only hope it gets better.

 

[Tombo46]

Hope you do feel better for that.

It certainly hasn't been the best start to the year but we can all only hope it gets better.

Haha I have to think that it will be good. We're definitely due it! Although it hit me hard. 2 of my friends went bust so there's always someone worse off =( I felt very bad for one of them as the business had been established for over 120 years.

 

[Carbonio]

Not what you might want to hear but I have access to long range weather forcasts, the type of thing that costs mega money to produce for planning gas usage and the like for power stations months in advance and it doesn't look good.

We are predicted to have a wet summer with below average temperatures for the next 4-6 month.

I hope it's all wrong but they are normaly spot on the mark.

 

[Tombo46]

Not what you might want to hear but I have access to long range weather forcasts, the type of thing that costs mega money to produce for planning gas usage and the like for power stations months in advance and it doesn't look good.

We are predicted to have a wet summer with below average temperatures for the next 4-6 month.

I hope it's all wrong but they are normaly spot on the mark.

You are exactly what I'm talking about. Please dig a hole and place yourself in it...

Haha of course I'm kidding. However you definitely haven't helped.

Suddenly my priorities have just changed though as I've found out the road my shop is on is going to be closed for 11 weeks. Maybe it's just the panic but after last Summer I'm in no position to take a hit like that. If it's as bad as the last set of road works I won't have to worry about being self employed much longer.

 

[Carbonio]

You are exactly what I'm talking about. Please dig a hole and place yourself in it...

Haha of course I'm kidding. However you definitely haven't helped.

Suddenly my priorities have just changed though as I've found out the road my shop is on is going to be closed for 11 weeks. Maybe it's just the panic but after last Summer I'm in no position to take a hit like that. If it's as bad as the last set of road works I won't have to worry about being self employed much longer.

It's been a long, long winter and was hoping for the oppsite myself but it doesn't look like we are going to get it.

Personal I think the big 4 supermarkets and the likes of eBay and Amazon have a lot to answer for, hence they are all on my boycott list.
They have transformed the highstreet and continue to do so. The only way we are going to keep the little guys trading is to use them but sadly people often chose convenience over morrals.

 

[mhall]

I will admit to getting annoyed when the telly this morning was telling people not to go out "unless absolutely necessary" because of heavy rain !

For gods sake !!! - and the rain didn't even start till 5 this evening

 

[SimonJBell]

Not what you might want to hear but I have access to long range weather forcasts, the type of thing that costs mega money to produce for planning gas usage and the like for power stations months in advance and it doesn't look good.

We are predicted to have a wet summer with below average temperatures for the next 4-6 month.

I hope it's all wrong but they are normaly spot on the mark.

Can we really predict weather that far ahead in this country? Trying to predict the weather for tomorrow is unreliable enough...

 

[Carbonio]

Can we really predict weather that far ahead in this country? Trying to predict the weather for tomorrow is unreliable enough...

Not day to day weather but it's quite reliable for longer term predictions.

I'm not talking Metoffice type predictions here, they have lost a lot of long term customers who have moved to other systems.

Utility customers have much better weather predictions and companies like Centrica invest big money into it to help control gas prices and when they will need to start up and shut down power plants.

 

The Met office can only get 50% accuracy for the 24 hour forcast,which I find amazing considering the resources they have.

Today in Kent the forcast was rain all day,instead we had sunshine.

 

[ashbash]

I was going to apply to sell my paintings on the railings in Bayswater this year...thanks to Carbonio I think I might give it a miss!

I have already lost too much money on trade fairs this year, don't want to get pneumonia as well,,,ooh, wonder if there is a market for hand painted umbrellas?

 

[gr9ce]

As i have broken out the heat pad again.....

Try being in the swimming/paddling pool business.
Last year we had the hosepipe ban and torrential rain, this year summer simply is on hold.
Considered having to list some excess stock on ebay only to see others on there already selling the same at below trade price, so what is the point?

We are unfortunately in a weather dependent business on a garden centre site similarly impacted.

I can however predict it will be blistering in September when we try and get away for some sun.

 

[AndyICAEW]

It's amazing how much of an effect a couple of days of sun can have. Waitrose and John Lewis reported a 1.8% increase in sales over the sunny bank holiday weekend: http://www.retail-week.com/sectors/...es-at-john-lewis-and-waitrose/5048992.article

 

[Doodle-Noodle]

I was going to apply to sell my paintings on the railings in Bayswater this year...thanks to Carbonio I think I might give it a miss!

I have already lost too much money on trade fairs this year, don't want to get pneumonia as well,,,ooh, wonder if there is a market for hand painted umbrellas?

We've just started doing Winchester Art Fair (3rd Sunday of each month) and this month sold really well (my sister sold 4 paintings at over £350 each). The 1st month they stuck us down the "cheap" end and we didn't sell anything, but this time they put us in a much better position.
It might be worth your while visiting it to see whether you think it's suitable for your work. Well attended, well run and only £40 a pitch.

 

[Dbennett006]

I think I'm the only retailer praying for rain.. Consistently if we see poor weather my sales can rise by 25% a day... I suppose it's what kind if retail your in...

 

[squeekwheel]

I just read in the Times newspaper that we might have a further 5 to 10 years of these cold rainy summers - bad news for restaurants and other places which depends on people leaving the comfort of their homes. Living in Dover, I say that takeaways in Dover and everywhere else in UK will probably benefit from this weather, but who cares - I'd rather see more proper restaurants opening up.

 

[gr9ce]

I just want to ditch the thick trousers and two jumpers for just a couple of days running.......


(I KNOW we get criticised for being gloomy here but sometimes a bit of gloom shared is a bit of gloom halved my excuse anyway)

<pops off to make some soul warming cup-a-soup>

 

[Jeff FV]

I just read in the Times newspaper that we might have a further 5 to 10 years of these cold rainy summers -

The bad news is is that we are due for another 5 to 10 years of cold, rainy summers.

The good news is is that that forecast was brought to you by the Met Office, who last year forecast a drought and a warmer than average summer.

J

 

[Doodle-Noodle]

I've been out shopping today and bought ingredients for a beef casserole tomorrow ..... in June (nearly July!) FFS!!!!! It should be salads and barbecues .... seriously depressing. And I struggled to find leeks ..... what is happening to this world?

 

[Jeff FV]

And I struggled to find leeks .....

I've found a few - in my shed, attic roof, conservatory ...

 

[deniser]

I have never ever worn winter boots in June but it's far too cold to wear sandals. I have been wanting to buy a new pair of boots since February but of course the shops haven't been stocking them.

I think it is time for fashion and footwear retailers to have a good look at the new seasons and adjust the selling patterns.

 

[gr9ce]

Don't worry, when the sun finally comes out for longer than a day the shops will have their winter ranges and Xmas decorations

 

[Doodle-Noodle]

Don't worry, when the sun finally comes out for longer than a day the shops will have their winter ranges and Xmas decorations

Exactly 6 month to go ....... jingle all the way!!!

 

[gr9ce]

DON'T......or someone with start the xyz 'sleeps' 'til Xmas thread....or the 'do we discount Xmas stock in September' post....
January sales in November anyone?

 

[Lunazzurra]

Yep! Just finished dressing the shop window - I've got hold of some really authentic fake snow this year. And the twinkly lights look great too.

Now, where's the whiskey and mince pies .............

 

[kelvin1950]

We've just ordered our Xmas stock.

 

[ashbash]

And how are we all coping lol!

 

[Tombo46]

And how are we all coping lol!

It's horrible! It's all hot and sticky and hard to work in and there are these people in my shop and they keep throwing this paper stuff with the queens head on at me and I don't know what to do!

Not what you might want to hear but I have access to long range weather forcasts, the type of thing that costs mega money to produce for planning gas usage and the like for power stations months in advance and it doesn't look good.

We are predicted to have a wet summer with below average temperatures for the next 4-6 month.

I hope it's all wrong but they are normaly spot on the mark.

Also better than this guy

I spent ages telling people it was going to work out! The same ones are now complaining about how hot it is haha.

 

[Doodle-Noodle]

^^^
'tis a bit warm Ash but isn't it WONDERFUL!!!!!
To be fair, I can still have a bit of a moan as our afternoon trade has all but disappeared - busy in the mornings though, I've been very tempted to shut early as it's been completely dead by 3pm but can't bring myself to do it (just in case!)

We've been selling lots of "Thank you teacher" stuff, plus been busy on the art supplies stuff as people seem to be feeling creative. Have painted up some jam jars and stuck them on my FB page which has helped boost sales of the paints so all is just dandy here in Doodle-land at the mo

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151702787713874.1073741834.173605348873&type=1

 

[Doodle-Noodle]

It's horrible! It's all hot and sticky and hard to work in and there are these people in my shop and they keep throwing this paper stuff with the queens head on at me and I don't know what to do!



Also better than this guy

I spent ages telling people it was going to work out! The same ones are now complaining about how hot it is haha.

LOL!!! So pleased he was wrong - bet you're doing well Tombo, I'm spending a fortune on fresh fruit & salad veg! Sadly we don't have a greengrocer anywhere near us so am having to go to Sainsbury's but buying lots of lovely fresh meat from our local butcher ..... we've had a BBQ every night for the past fortnight sitting out in the garden til about 11pm, it's great not to be watching the telly!
(will have to watch the Apprentice tonight though .......!)

 

[ashbash]

Well sadly here the customers have evaporated too!

Deadly lack of trade , everyone spending on ice cream, stumbling around saying it's too hot...that's why I thought it would be fun to resurrect this thread, and yes I did wonder about the exclusive long range weather forecast posted earlier

Now to re-brand me umbrellas as sun shades

 

[Lunazzurra]

Well sadly here the customers have evaporated too!

Deadly lack of trade , everyone spending on ice cream, stumbling around saying it's too hot...that's why I thought it would be fun to resurrect this thread, and yes I did wonder about the exclusive long range weather forecast posted earlier

Now to re-brand me umbrellas as sun shades

Ditto here too! Absolutely dead here since the sun came out! Killed trade completely.

Getting comments like: "Yes I would buy it but I don't want to carry it around in this heat!"

Everyone's gone to the beach - town dead compared to usual. One cafe near us (with nice sunny location street seating and canopy) closed at 2.30pm on Sunday - normally open till 4pm! No trade!

Likewise with umbrellas - trying to sell scarves as neck protectors against the sun. No takers as yet.

Roll on the rain (but not too much, of course, otherwise they don't venture out in the first place!) or at least some cloud cover, please?

Too cold: = grumpy customers = less sales
Too wet: = grumpy customers = less sales
Comfortably warm & dry: happier customers = more sales
Too hot: irritable, fractious, grumpy customers = less sales

Re: the long-term forecast - just 3 or 4 weeks ago BTSE (Before The Sunshine Era) the met office were saying that the weather was going to continue to be unsettled with more rain and lower than average temperatures and unseasonably high winds were expected particularly in the South & South West. And they (i.e. we) spent £30m on a super-computer to tell us that? (BTW -this is the same computer that is meant to be predicting local and global climate change).

Never happy are we retailers?

 

[Trisha&ChrisPlant]

Ditto here too! Absolutely dead here since the sun came out! Killed trade completely.

Getting comments like: "Yes I would buy it but I don't want to carry it around in this heat!"

Everyone's gone to the beach - town dead compared to usual. One cafe near us (with nice sunny location street seating and canopy) closed at 2.30pm on Sunday - normally open till 4pm! No trade!

Likewise with umbrellas - trying to sell scarves as neck protectors against the sun. No takers as yet.

Roll on the rain (but not too much, of course, otherwise they don't venture out in the first place!) or at least some cloud cover, please?

Too cold: = grumpy customers = less sales
Too wet: = grumpy customers = less sales
Comfortably warm & dry: happier customers = more sales
Too hot: irritable, fractious, grumpy customers = less sales

Re: the long-term forecast - just 3 or 4 weeks ago BTSE (Before The Sunshine Era) the met office were saying that the weather was going to continue to be unsettled with more rain and lower than average temperatures and unseasonably high winds were expected particularly in the South & South West. And they (i.e. we) spent £30m on a super-computer to tell us that? (BTW -this is the same computer that is meant to be predicting local and global climate change).

Never happy are we retailers?

Yes, ditto here as well. Been really quiet over the past couple of weeks. I keep toying with the idea of closing on a Wednesday (a lot of the shops in the town are closed on Wednesdays as it was originally early closing day). Just can't quite bring myself to do it though - as of course with the shop closed there's ZERO chance of a sale. Would be great to be able to catch up with other stuff at home though....

 

[David1962]

You all simply can't blame the weather for it being quite at the moment. That's just such an easy way to make excuses for lack of business. You have to remember that you have also had the Tennis and Cricket on, maybe you could include Glastonbury if your within 200 miles of Somerset and then there's always that local(ish) department store that has a massive sale on. Actually didn't the Next sale start this week, that'll do

Oh and schools break up next week, so that'll be another one should the weather change.

If anyone's interested I did compile a list once of all the excuses we and other fellow retailers used to make for it being quite, anything from it being a Wednesday to cracks in the pavement!!

 

[Doodle-Noodle]

You all simply can't blame the weather for it being quite at the moment. That's just such an easy way to make excuses for lack of business. You have to remember that you have also had the Tennis and Cricket on, maybe you could include Glastonbury if your within 200 miles of Somerset and then there's always that local(ish) department store that has a massive sale on. Actually didn't the Next sale start this week, that'll do

Oh and schools break up next week, so that'll be another one should the weather change.

If anyone's interested I did compile a list once of all the excuses we and other fellow retailers used to make for it being quite, anything from it being a Wednesday to cracks in the pavement!!

So you would go browsing round the shops in 90 degree heat then would you?

It's not an excuse for customers staying away, it's a valid reason. What we need to do as retailers is to find (and implement) good reasons for people to come IN to us, not to stay away. And that's actually what we're all trying to do.

I know from the past 4 years experience that the school summer holidays sees a dip in the number of customers coming into my shop as people don't like bringing kids in to shops like mine with lots of little breakable things.

To combat that we offer kids craft activities every weekday afternoon during all the school holidays to get parents with their kids coming in to my shop. It actually raises much more revenue than I had initially anticipated it would and it does get people in.

 

You all simply can't blame the weather for it being quite at the moment. That's just such an easy way to make excuses for lack of business.

Even my doctor said they had been quite as most people prefered going to the beach to visiting the surgery.

 

[David1962]

So you would go browsing round the shops in 90 degree heat then would you?

It's not an excuse for customers staying away, it's a valid reason. What we need to do as retailers is to find (and implement) good reasons for people to come IN to us, not to stay away. And that's actually what we're all trying to do.

I know from the past 4 years experience that the school summer holidays sees a dip in the number of customers coming into my shop as people don't like bringing kids in to shops like mine with lots of little breakable things.

To combat that we offer kids craft activities every weekday afternoon during all the school holidays to get parents with their kids coming in to my shop. It actually raises much more revenue than I had initially anticipated it would and it does get people in.

That post was tongue-in-cheek because we all know when it's quite it we look about for an excuse. Yes I agree this hot weather does keep the shoppers away, as does the first hot weekend of the year. Our High Street is dead as dead can be at the moment, usually just one chav pushing a pram and a granny with a zimmer frame in sight.

Yet the hot weather can also be good news for some retailers, bet Warnie is slapping himself on the back for investing that £1,000 on his new Ice Cream freezer. That's where his type of shop can win as his regular customers simply switch sales from sweets to ice cream, plus he'll get additional customers in who wouldn't normally buy sweets.

The serious side to the post though was at which point do retailers sit up and realise that almost every week they are looking for the excuses/reasons for being quite? I'll wager that come September you'll all be quiet again/still and the reason will be the pre-Christmas lull. Come November Christmas won't have started but that's because everyone is waiting for their November payday. Then come 17th December Christmas will have kicked in but it's down on last year because....... well lets wait and see what the weather, economy, interest rates, chain store sales, fuel prices etc are doing.

Not a criticism, well it is sort off, but I did exactly the same so I know where you are coming from. It's just that I and a number of fellow retailers suddenly realised that we were always looking for that "reason", and realised how ridiculous it was doing that week-in week-out.

 

[David1962]

Even my doctor said they had been quite as most people prefered going to the beach to visiting the surgery.

Don't think that is the case for Tadly

Or any town along the M4/M1 corridors. Or Birmingham, Manchester etc.

But if your doctor says so, just because he lives by the sea, then it must be right Nationally.

I'll bet that your town's shops are doing well at the moment thanks to the weather.

 

Don't think that is the case for Tadly

Or any town along the M4/M1 corridors. Or Birmingham, Manchester etc.

But if your doctor says so, just because he lives by the sea, then it must be right Nationally.

I'll bet that your town's shops are doing well at the moment thanks to the weather.

Yup the town is heaving.

My doctor better be right about a lot of things.

Question .Why do people live in large cities.:|

 

[islandgirl]

My sales have dropped dramatically since the hot weather so much so that it is worrying! I'm just on the fringes of the main town and people just don't want to walk that far. The ones that do venture, make it into the shop just stand and stare then leave! too hot to try on shoes! The same for freezing conditions! As a shopper I remember flitting from one air con shop to another, no chance of that luxury with my turnover!