Leeds gift shop issues heartfelt plea after selling nothing in a day's trading

An independent gift shop has reached out to customers after only four people visited the business in a single day.
Our Handmade Collective is owned by Claire Riley and Natalie EntwistleOur Handmade Collective is owned by Claire Riley and Natalie Entwistle
Our Handmade Collective is owned by Claire Riley and Natalie Entwistle

Our Handmade Collective has traded in the Grand Arcade in Leeds city centre for six years - but on Monday the business did not sell a single product and only four customers walked through the door.

Q&A with the owners of Our Handmade CollectiveThe store stocks hand-picked greetings cards and gifts made by 70 different local artisan crafters.

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In a post on their Facebook page, owners Claire Riley and Natalie Entwistle implored local people to support independent traders to ensure they survive.

"Yesterday was a bad day for us. We only had four customers in and unfortunately sold not one single card, not even just a card. That's only ever happened to us once before in our six years of business, and it made us feel pretty sad to be honest.

"But today is a new day, we've dusted ourselves off and even though it's raining buckets here we're waiting to greet you with a sunny smile and a shop full of handmade awesomeness from 70 local makers who are quite frankly, ridiculously talented! Please, please support your local indies folks; even a small purchase really, really helps."

The business's plight echoes that of Harrogate bookshop Imagined Things. Last June, owner Georgia Duffy posted on Twitter that her shop had experienced its 'worst day ever' and only taken £12 in sales.

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The Tweet went viral with over a million responses, and the next day around 50 people visited the independent bookseller - the first to open in Harrogate for 20 years - and a flood of book orders came in via email.