Can you believe that we’re 3/4s of the way through 2023 already, the mornings are getting chillier, the nights are drawing in and everywhere seems to be decorated in pumpkins, including Chirpy!

Time to look back at the summer we almost had!

Best buying decision of July had to be stocking the wonderful Smiley umbrellas for what turned out ot be a very wet month. For those of you who know me well you’ll know it’s a bit ironic that I’m stocking these as I have a thing against emojis (long story!) but I couldn’t resist these, and neither could our customers! The other best buying decision was stocking ROKA bags, which have gone down a treat! Their great designs and vibrant colours fit in perfectly with the Chirpy vibe and they’ve proved very popular. Think they’ll be a best seller this Christmas. Retail really is affected by the weather though and July proved to be a challenging month, much quieter than last year, when we were baking in sunshine. I did also manage a little family trip to Scotland where it didn’t rain all the time and a visit to the Harrogate Trade fair which is great as it’s only a bus ride away & got lots of ideas for new season stock.

August saw a couple of new businesses open in Chapel Allerton, Paria and Bricklebanks. It’s always great to see new businesses pop up and keep our local high street vibrant and thriving. Paria does great coffee and pastries, have to admit I haven’t had a chance to try Bricklebanks yet but it’s on my list.

We launched the new Chirpy Workshop programme this month, with lots of new workshops and a few trusty popular ones too. It was great to get lots of bookings straight away, really helps us plan ahead. Talking of planing ahead we also opened our preorders for lots of new stock, including our Festive Papercut Baubles. The aim of this was also to help you spread the cost of gifting this year, help us manage our orders and cashflow and help our suppliers know what we’re going to order as soon as possible so a win win all round.

On a personal note I had a lovely couple of days beside the seaside with my mum for her 80th birthday followed by her garden party. Hope I’m as sprightly as my mum (with her new hip) when I’m 80! My daughter turned 17 too (don’t worry the roads are safe as she’s not learning to drive) and we had a great trip to London to see Cabaret which was amazing!

September, my favourite month, and the return of summer! The month had a busy start with Chapel Allerton’s annual festival and the monthly market - not particularly good for shop sales but great to see the ‘village’ so busy and what a lovely weekend for it. September also denotes the beginning of the festive season for me in retail with a visit to Top Drawer, my favourite tradeshow, where I order most of my Christmas stock. It was a great show, meeting some existing suppliers and finding some new ones too. We think you’ll love the things we’ve bought and the new pencil sets are already proving very popular.

This September we took part in ‘Thinking of You’ week and raised over £250 for Breast Cancer Now, with personalised cards, a raffle and a bake sale. We’ll continue to raise money over the next couple of months so still time to buy your raffle tickets - there’s some gorgeous prizes.

The workshop programme got off to a great start, having already hosted 5 workshops this month and lots more to come - don’t forget to book your places!

The shop is looking lovely and autumnal as we’re embracing Halloween. We’ll also be welcoming back My New Wardrobe for a pop up shop on 6th October and also planning for the MAGIC TENNER event which starts on 7th October.

We couldn’t do all of this without our wonderful Chirpy customers who continue to support us, buying gifts, booking on workshops or even just popping in for a card.

Now the fun starts … if you see me running around looking a bit stressed then that’s autumn for me!! Coffee always welcome!

Jo x