Well Christmas is over and we now look forward to the days getting longer sometime soon.  Here is the news after a long break...

1. December was a good month for the shop

2. VAT rises

3. Next round of wine club

4. Competition results and January 150 Club Draw

5. Produce to Order - a reminder of what we can do

1. December's takings

We sold just over £13,000 in December, which beats our monthly target, even though 2 days were closed and 6 days were half days.  It beats last year's December too, even though last year we did a wine tasting that would have boosted sales.  Maybe it was because of the snow, that meant people were more inclined to buy locally rather than hack their way into Tesco or Waitrose, or maybe it was because we offered a good selection of regular groceries and Christmas/Gift items.  Who can tell?  Anyway, we do know that the Christmas items went very well, we have just a few left and if you would like to buy those, many of the leftovers are at a bargain price!  The only problem we had was that during the coldest spell for 100 years, our display freezer packed up unexpectedly and took quite a while to get fixed!

It would be difficult to run so many open days over the holiday season were it not for our staff and volunteers.  While the rest of us were a) away with friends b) having a lie-in after eating too much turkey or c) entertaining the kids or relatives at home, these noble souls were opening up on a daily basis, and keeping the shop going.  Thanks to you all.

Obviously, we limited the range of fresh produce in the shop during the time between Christmas and New Year, but now we are re-stocking, the deli fridge is already filling up again

2. VAT rises

Well you won't need us to tell you that VAT went up to 20% at the new year.  Amazingly, although "food" is zero rated, about half the product lines we sell attract VAT at the standard rate so it would be too much of a hassle to reprice all the items so we are going to sell the existing stock at the old prices.  Look out for bargains then in the next 2-3 weeks!  However, when new stock comes in, we will have to lift our prices at that time, so you may find that items with price tickets on them are charged at a slightly higher price (if we have bought new stock of that line) - please bear with us on this, it shouldn't be a problem for long.

3. Next Wine Club Round

Noel Young is tending his vines in Australia at the moment but when he returns in February, I shall ask him to send us a menu for the next round.  You will need to replenish your cellars!  Of course, his VAT has risen too so there may be a slight increase in the case price but we'll see.  Look out for the email that gives details of the offer and as usual, if you want to join our club (free, no commitment), just say so in a reply to this mail, or ask in the shop.

4. Competition Results

The December 150 Club was won by Brian Roberts so congratulations there.  Peggy Palmer won our tremendously successful Christmas Raffle.  We sold so many tickets that we put on an extra 5 prizes, so well done to the village on that and we hope all 8 winners enjoyed their prizes, especially Peggy (who is still munching through her turkey!).

The next 150 Club draw (for January) will be tomorrow, Tuesday 18th January, in the Green Man.  Come and join us, maybe have dinner there or just a drink.  The draw will be at 8pm ish.  There are usually a couple of tickets spare so if you think tomorrow is your lucky night....

5. Buying to Order

It might just be worth a reminder that we do several items to order, often for next day delivery.

- Fruit and Veg, we can always get these items next day.  Just call in or phone your order to us and we'll get them for you, fresh as they can be, from our regular supplier.

- Meat, two options here, we can often get a meat order delivered next day from Russells, but we also do a weekly delivery from Leech's in Melbourn - top quality meat of all varieties, order any time for delivery on Thursday.

- Flowers, again we can do next day delivery, you tell us what you want, how much you want to spend and we'll do the rest.

- Wine, if you want a case of wine, perhaps of something you liked in the wine club offer, let us order it for you from Noel Young and we will deliver it to you.

- Magazines and Newspapers, We can get and hold any particular magazine for you.  If you are worried that the newspaper you want may be sold out by the time you get into the shop, let us know you want to reserve it and we will hold it for you (all you need to do is let us know when you are on holiday)

- Baking, if you have visitors coming round, phone in and ask us to bake some bread, pies, pasties or confectionery specially for you, it will be ready just in time for you.

- Of course, if there is anything specific that you want on a regular basis, let us know and we'll try to order it in for you.  Several customers already do this - we can deliver it to your house if it is heavy.

If you are organising a "do" in the Village Hall, we are happy to do a sale or return deal on anything you buy for refreshments.  It would be best to give us a couple of days notice!

Remember also that we do Coffee and Tea to take away or drink in, mobile phone top-ups, dry cleaning, shoe repairs, batteries, coal, logs, birdseed and the Harston Surgery prescription drop off box.

That's enough for now!  Happy New Year to everyone from us all.

 

TVSA