As Friary Shoes has been in Lichfield for over 100 years, and in Uttoxeter for over 30 years, we’ve been saddened to notice the steady decline in retail during that time.

We saw an old photograph of Lichfield recently, which made us realise how much town and city high streets have changed over the decades.  The photo was probably taken in the early 1990’s, when Baker’s Lane in Lichfield was full of shops, and the street was full of people shopping.

Today, it’s a different picture. The hustle and bustle of the centre just isn’t the same, as people have an alternative choice now, to buy online. As a result, the high streets look completely different. Some of the big-name shops that were once a regular sight in major towns and cities have vanished. And empty stores are a more regular sight, as landlords’ try to fill vacant units.

It’s certainly a struggle being an independent retailer in this day and age, as the reduction of people coming into the towns and cities means reduced footfall in our shops.

Friary Shoes’ Lichfield store is based at the top end of Baker’s Lane, where there are lots of larger chain stores, including the new Starbucks. As a result, we don’t have any other independent businesses as our immediate neighbours. It actually makes us feel quite lonely, as the large chain stores are run by store managers, with the back-up of a whole head office team. In comparison, there’s just us, Adam and Tracey, making all the decisions about our store.

Our family has run Friary Shoes for the last 118 years, and the responsibility for the success of the business is now down to just the two of us. We don’t have a team of buyers helping us to decide what stock to buy – we have to visit the trade shows and make the decisions ourselves. If we make the right decisions, great! If we don’t, we have to decide how to fix it!  We use our years of experience to influence our buying decisions, but unfortunately, there’s no amount of experience that will guarantee what will sell well and what won’t. We need a crystal ball for that!  

If we buy something that sells like hot cakes, we’ll wish we’d bought more stock and will then try to get more stock in! But if we purchase something that doesn’t sell well, we then have to make the difficult decision to reduce the price and sell it at a loss!  As a shoe shop, we also have to buy shoes in multiple sizes and colours too, which makes our buying decisions even more tricky!

Since the pandemic, we’re always on the lookout for danger ahead. Once bitten, twice shy I suppose. We have to order our stock at least 6-9 months in advance. When Covid came in March 2020 we had just had delivered most of our spring/ summer range to sell during the summer. But then the world came to a halt, everything shut - and we were left with all the stock and no way to sell it and because we couldn't sell it how do you pay for it! Along with many business owners at the time we really didn't know how we would survive this. We communicated with our landlords and suppliers weekly to try to work with them to get through the pandemic, and with hardwork and determination we did get through it.

As independent business owners, a quiet day or a quiet week can cause us many sleepless nights worrying about how we are going to pay the rent, the  suppliers and the staff. And when you run a family business, your employees feel like much more than just employees! As you work with them everyday and learn about their family circumstances, they start to feel like a part of your extended family that you come to care for. And there’s the responsibility that comes with that – knowing that your business has to do well to allow you to pay them each month! Some of our Friary Shoes staff have been with us for 25+ years, so they are definitely more like friends than employees!  That’s why, if business is especially tough with a bad month, you dread adding up the sales in case the numbers tell you that you can’t afford to pay everyone! As an independent business owner, you then have to make the decision to not take any money from the business and sacrifice your own pay in order to be able to pay your team. At Friary Shoes, we’ll always put them first.

That’s why, we’re sometimes envious of our neighbouring store managers who have the backup of head office to sort all these problems out! But then we remember that, despite all the challenges, we’re extremly proud to run our own business. As independent business owners, we have to keep fighting to keep the high street alive with independent stores. We believe independent shop owners need to work together, to find ways to collaborate and build a strong community in each area, in order to help us all through the tough times. Whilst we survived Covid, there are still lots of tough times ahead….