The Village Stores

14/12/2021

24/12/2020

14/11/2020

Well, here we are again on a Saturday morning. I should be on the paper round. Distributers report all deliveries 30 minutes late from publishers and we're now an hour an a half past normal delivery time. Not a single newspaper in sight. All home deliveries will be late & I'll be hard pushed to be back to open the shop at 8.30am.

11/11/2020

Bigger is better. Fresh today.

26/09/2020

Here we go again. 6.30am on s Saturday morning & no Times's or Telegraphs yet.

19/09/2020

Newspapers. You don't want to know. Still waiting for over half my supply, 2 hours late. This time it's (mostly) the publishers unable to get their product out on time. Extinction Rebellion will be laughing their socks off if they have any.

18/09/2020

No newspapers at all yet due to my delivery driver breaking down. They say an hour late but we're already past that. Guess everybody's delivery will be late this morning!

17/09/2020

Major incompetence by my monopoly news supplier Smith's News has left me without some titles &short supplies of others this morning.

It will affect half of my delivery round.

Some of you will already have received papers, others will be late & shop will probably be late opening while I finish deliveries once papers arrive, assuming they do.

Apologies to all affected.

Mike.

05/09/2020

No easy solution to this. Due to the activities of Extinction Rebellion we are without the Times, Telegraph, Sun, FT & Guardian supplements this morning. Deliveries will be disrupted, no timescales available at present, 5.30am.

03/09/2020

Our new hand sanitiser stations in The Village Stores & Hampton Wines are now up & running. The 80% alcohol sanitiser is WHO approved but a touch more liquidy than the santiser we used to have on the counter. Please bear this in mind when you use it - cup one hand underneath whilst pressing the tap gently, then rub into your hands until dry. Many thanks to CleanedUp for supplying these at beneficial rates. Stay safe, Mike & Di.

30/08/2020

Usual Bank Holiday opening tomorrow, just the morning. Hampton WInes will open 10am until noon.

15/08/2020

Victoria Plums alongside our ever popular mushrooms this morning courtesy of a generous villager & Di's harvesting skills late last night. Sweet, juicy, delicious & fresh from the tree 12 hours ago.

22/07/2020

By law you will have to wear a face covering (nose & mouth) when entering a shop from this Friday, 24th July 2020.

14/07/2020

So, Mr Hancock, given that you've just said this, and I'm quoting from a BBC report, why have you not instructed all sales & retail workers (or indeed factory workers or taxi drivers) to wear face coverings rather than just shoppers?

I only have myself to look after, no employees, so I can take my own actions now that I know the statistics, but who takes responsibility for all those employed in the sector?

"Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Sadly, sales assistants, cashiers and security guards have suffered disproportionately in this crisis."

So, what do the figures show?

We’ve looked at ONS data on deaths registered involving coronavirus in England and Wales in the working age population (those aged 20 to 64 years) between 9 March and 25 May.

It shows that sales and retail assistants had high mortality rates when compared with rates among the working age population: 34.2 deaths per 100,000 men, and 15.7 deaths per 100,000 women.

This compares with 19.1 deaths per 100,000 men and 9.7 deaths per 100,000 women in the entire working age population.

But there are higher rates in other occupations (such as factory workers, taxi drivers and care workers)."

14/07/2020

Ok, so the government are going to insist that customers wear a mask when entering a shop from 24th July with the exception of children under 11 or those with health problems or certain disabilities. Well why wait? If it's good for 24th July it's good for now.

But they're not going to ask shops to police it or enforce it. So that makes it a little difficult for us small shopkeepers.

So here's how we'll apply it in The Village Stores.

We already have a counter shield in place and a 2 customer maximum rule. If you come in without a mask I won't be challenging you or reporting you. But I will stay behind the counter & shield.

If you want me to come out from behind the counter to assist you, I'll wear a mask or personal shield. And I'll ask you to do the same if you're comfortable with that.

If you're on your way in to the shop and see somebody in who is un-masked and you're unhappy with that, may I please ask that you wait outside until that customer has left. There may be good reason why they're not wearing a mask.

Likewise, if you're coming in un-masked & there is already somebody in the shop, please wait until they have left before entering.

I don't intend to allow arguments in-store about whether or not other customers should be masked up.

As always, please observe social distancing guidelines in and around the shop. Thank you.

Interpretation of rules applicable with immediate effect and subject to change if government guidelines change.

25/05/2020

Bit late putting this on here but it's the usual bank holiday opening times today, just until midday. Same for Hampton WInes. Get yourselves out or you'll miss us & I intend to have an afternoon in the garden.

19/05/2020

Just arrived in from Shakespeare Distillery, these 300ml bottles of Hand Sanitiser. This is a quality product, 80% alcohol, which we'll sell at the recommended retail price of £4.50. Singles only. If you want quantity, please go direct where you can get bulk buyers discount & free delivery. A great initiative from a Stratford based distillery and a competitive price. Also back in stock, paracetamol, £1.29 for a 16 pack. Limited quantity so again single packs only. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3002122223190196&id=862351107167329

11/05/2020

Let us be clear to everyone wanting to use The Village Stores & Hampton WInes. We have remained open to serve our local community. We will do our utmost to ensure our own safety & that of our customers. That means everyone following social distancing guidelines when they are in or around our stores. Refusal to do so will mean closure of the stores until safety is assured again, i.e. those refusing to observe our guidelines have departed. It's our decision, no arguments.