Express & Star

Think local and and help boost our businesses

The last few years have been very tough ones, and communities like ours all over Britain are feeling the impact with businesses struggling to stay afloat, higher unemployment and cuts to many services.

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COMMERCIAL FEATURE

But what many of us don't realise is that the choices we all make about where we spend our hard-earned cash can have a big effect on our local economy.

We all know about carbon footprints and Fairtrade products. Many of us choose to spend our money in ways which help reduce our carbon footprint, or make remote farming communities on the other side of the world better off.

But do we ever stop to think about the effect of where we spend our money is having on our own local economy right here in the West Midlands?

A thriving local economy is a good thing for all of us – it makes our area a nicer place to live, means more businesses succeed, people are better off, they have more money to spend in the local economy, and so it goes on.

Together, we've got the power to make little decisions that help our local economy to thrive.

Here's how. It's simple. Shopping helps fuel local economies. So where you spend your money counts.

Businesses which are independently owned, which create local employment and which use local suppliers all play a really powerful part in helping our local economy.

This week we're focusing on how spending your money at local shops and businesses helps make all of us in the Black Country, south Staffordshire and north Worcestershire better off.

When you shop at a local business, even if it's a national chain, you're helping to create local employment

And more people in our local economy having work is a good thing for all of us – it means there's more money circulating in our local economy, less people needing support, more people able to buy things that then help other businesses to grow, and so the virtuous circle goes on.

Over more than 60 years, menswear store Blooms has become a part of life in Wolverhampton. Generations of men, young and old, have passed through its doors to be measured for a new suit.

Despite tough times on the high street and competition from national chains, Blooms has continued to thrive, even expanding into wedding hire over the last few years.

Tom Vater has run the shop since 1981 and has no doubt about the secrets of its success: "Quality and service," he said.

"We always carry a lot of stock and if we don't have something – which is rare – we go the extra mile to get it. Fathers bring their sons in here for their first suit. And we are seeing more customers who are prepared to travel quite a distance.

"We had one chap who lives the other side of Newport who came over the other day and wanted fully kitting out. Everything except shoes, from underwear to overcoat.

"Because of our quality and our service, we have very loyal customers. As a result trade doesn't fluctuate much, it remains very steady. So, even when things have been difficult on the high street we have been able to hold our own, even expanding into the shop premises next door when we decided to start offering wedding dress hire."

The shop has stood in Darlington Street since it first opened in the early 1950s and now employs around 20 people. Seven of them are the skilled tailors who enable Blooms to offer an alterations service to everyone who buys a suit, as well as a full made-to-measure service.

"We'll see a bit of a surge in the run-up to Christmas," said Mr Vater. "But our customers generally keep us steady.

"I am working on the shopfloor six days a week, talking to customers and making sure we know what they want. It's one of the things that has allowed us to buck the trend."

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