CROYDON COMMENTARY: Our report earlier this week about the plaintive plea for customers, made by the owner of a business in Coulsdon, generated a huge response from readers, and some important insights on the challenges facing the retail sector from Cozy Glow.
Here, ASHLEY COOKE explains some of the things he and other Coulsdon traders are up against
PLUS: Traders offer to do RingGo parking bookings for Coulsdon customers
AND: Get 15% off your first order from Cozy Glow and qualify for a free gift
We completely understand how tough things are right now — it’s something we hear a lot from our community.
We actually put our “Where is everyone, Coulsdon?” post up after speaking with other local businesses, as many of us have noticed a big drop in footfall over the last month.
It’s clear that people are feeling the pressure, so we’re working together to find ways to help. We’re simply trying to encourage more people to make the effort to shop locally — whether in person or online — rather than defaulting to Amazon or similar options.
We get the frustration around parking — it’s a common concern. However, most comparable boroughs actually have similar parking charges to Croydon.
Enterprising business: Cozy Glow’s products are worth a visit to Coulsdon
That said, one-hour free parking is still available on Coulsdon High Street, and local independent businesses like ours are here to help. You don’t have to use the RingGo app if it’s tricky — pop in and we’ll help you sort your parking in-store.
We’re working together with other shops to make things easier and to keep Coulsdon’s high street thriving.
At Cozy Glow, we always try to keep things affordable — many of our gifts are cheaper than supermarket prices for the same branded items.
From just £3, we offer homewares, foodie treats, bath bombs, hot sauces, children’s games, toys and books and much more — it’s not just candles.
We absolutely understand that our made-in-store products won’t be accessible to everyone right now, and we genuinely respect that. But at £10.99 they represent great value compared to similar products.
That said, all Cozy Glow candles are made right here in our Coulsdon store using 100% natural soy wax — no paraffin, just clean-burning, high-quality ingredients. Despite this, we often see people choosing mass-produced candles from brands like Yankee Candle or Jo Malone, which are made with paraffin wax and often lack any real scent — and yet cost two to three times more. These are sold even in places like Tesco Express in Coulsdon.
Meanwhile, we offer a locally made alternative with free delivery or home drop-off, and it’s disheartening to hear that it’s still seen as “too expensive” by some.
We’re all trying to keep the high street alive, and every bit of support really does help.
- Check out our original report about Cozy Glow’s appeal for customers, and Cooke’s careful and detailed responses to our commenters. Shopping local is an increasingly important attitude for the public to adopt, together with the reminder: use it or lose it
- Cozy Glow does have a very sumptuous online shop at cozyglow.store. Orders over £50 qualify for a free gift
- Inside Croydon’s paying subscribers can save 15% on their first order using a purchase code that is available by clicking here
- Croydon Commentary provides a platform for any of our readers to offer their personal views and experiences about what matters to them in and around our corner of south London. To submit an article for consideration for publication, email us at inside.croydon@btinternet.com, or post your comment to an Inside Croydon article that has caught your attention
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Modern business these days is about how much u pay an influencer on Tik Tok or Instagram to plug yr shop or product. Times are changing , sadly for the worse but you just got to adapt.
I commend any local independent store owners trying to survive in the current climate of increasing costs, internet shopping and economic difficulties. One area where you can shine is in the support that you provide to your customers and in that area I’d strongly urge you all to invest in getting training for your staff about how to support disabled customers.
As someone who is blind I find shopping on the internet, whilst sometimes being made more difficult than it needs to be, to be a generally accessible way of getting what I want, when I want it.
Sometimes shopping in physical stores is great, but other times not so much. People don’t always know what the long-cane indicates, that guide dogs must be allowed in, let alone how to actually support a blind customer in finding what they want.
I’d strongly urge Ashley Cooke and all local business owners to take advantage of training for their staff and if the editor will permit I offer Visual Impairment Awareness training at negotiable fees. You can reach me through the editor. Sorry for the blatant self-advert. A couple of years ago I’d never have pushed myself forward in this way.
To those saying expensive goods don’t sell in difficult times, search for “the lipstick effect”!
That said, I don’t see the value on keeping the high street alive for the sake of it…
Free parking for a couple of hours would be a good start. Doesn’t seem to harm business at Bluewater.