The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) is backing an evocative new campaign by a group of independent fashion retailers highlighting their plight during England’s second lockdown. The owners of shops in the Boutiques in Business group have used their window displays to demonstrate how they feel the Government has turned its back on them – by doing the same with their shop mannequins.
Fashion retailers are just one of the types of businesses deemed ‘non-essential’ and forced to close from November 5 to December 2, 2020, as part of measures to stop the spread of Covid-19. However, many independent retailers feel angry that some large chains – many with mixed retail spaces – have continued to open.
The mannequin protest was the idea of Naomi Walker who runs Bombshell Betty, a fashion retailer in Garstang. Supported by Amanda Leigh Slattery (Maya Maya) and Shirley Leader (Velvet & Rose) of Boutiques in Business, the idea has spread across the country. Now Bira is encouraging other indies to support the cause.
Andrew Goodacre, Bira’s CEO, said: “Bira fully support the actions and comments of Boutiques in Business. Using the mannequins is a great way of bringing this injustice to the attention of the public. All specialist independent retailers are suffering unfairly because the large chains are free to trade despite only selling a small amount of essential items. The guidelines say that a business must sell a significant amount of essential items to stay open and we want to see the authorities challenge the large general retailer chains (such as the Range, WH Smiths, B&M Bargains etc) on this. If you are a specialist indie retailer, you are literally seeing you products and your livelihood being sold in other non-essential shops.”
