April 23, 2020
How Covid-19 has affected our business
This post is a part of our #togetherwearemoore group of small businesses joining together as we are dealing with Covid-19. We are Melissa Hamilton & Betsy Saye, co-owners at ETC - Eloise Trading Company at 111 W Main in historic downtown Aberdeen. We carry gifts, furniture, home decor & accessories, jewelry, original art, scarves, ponchos, wraps, table top, candles, picture frames, greeting cards and decorative pillows! We will also come to your home and rearrange your decor and help you pick out pieces to enhance it. In 2005, we were drawn to the charm of historic downtown Aberdeen and purchased the old Aberdeen Hardware building.
Moore County is a great place to have a business, the three main towns that comprise Moore County each have their own personality. Other small business owners are supportive and always open to collaborate to keep customers shopping small! The small town and sense of community is very strong. Our venue provides a unique and historic layout for our shop - the built-in shelves, the original ladders, tin ceiling, nail bin and store counters that are original to the building that was built in 1912 and housed Aberdeen Hardware. People come into the store all the time and tell stories about what it was like when they were young...stories of riding the ladders down the shelving, memories of saving their paper boy money for a certain item! Our shop is a place that people pop in often to see what is new - we are constantly changing our displays and adding new product - we want ETC to be a happy, bright, fun and vibrant place to slow down, wander, find the unexpected and to shop.laugh.fallinlove.
Right now, life seems to have turned upside down.Kids are not in school restaurants are only open for take-out, large gatherings cancelled and so much more. We decided to temporarily close our storefront on 3/23 to keep ourselves and our customers safe and healthy. We have been open by appointment and on-line – the extra time has given us an opportunity to work on our website, certainly a silver lining.
The financial impact is scary. Our part-time employees are not working and their income and ours are all impacted. We have new inventory to pay for, bills such as rent, insurance, utilities and the like. We have no revenue except for the occasional online sale or call in. Our sales normally consist of walk-in shoppers. We hope we won’t have to stay closed too long. We miss the hell out of our customers! It is lonely not seeing their smiling faces! #togetherwearemoore #saveoursmallbusiness #shoplaughfallinlove
