It’s no secret that since I started SE Sussed, my love for the area just kept on growing.
Places, events, food and the community in general — it’s all here for the taking. And now my attention has turned to the fabulous indies we have around. The ones that made it through the rough times, and the brave new entrepreneurs that are settling in just fine.
This Christmas, I have vowed to try and buy most (if not all) of my Xmas shopping locally.
So I have been visiting some old haunts as well as new ones, and checking out their online profiles to see what they have on offer.
A lot, as it turns out.
To make things more interesting, I made it my mission to focus on smaller presents — good quality, fun, and worthwhile gifts for no more than £10. So if you are looking for a secret Santa gift, stocking fillers or simply trying to keep the cost of buying presents down (who isn’t?), then this blog is for you.
But before you go through my favourite finds, here are the top 5 things I learned during my research so far:
- Not all indies have a website, and the ones that do, don’t always offer online shopping.
- Local shop keepers are wise about their stock, and can help you make the right decision. You can’t beat a recommendation.
- For an extra £5, you can triple the choices available to you.
- There is no substitute for a face to face visit.
- Don’t forget the local Christmas markets and fairs — they are full of fantastic traders with cracking gifts.
Now that you know what I know, here are just some things that I came across for £10 or under…
Yet again, I was left amazed at how much South East London has to offer.
There really is a lot of choice out there for us, and so many talented people! Local entrepreneurs, artists and designers really care about their product and will always try and be as accomodating as they can. You might need to do a little extra research to find them (we all know marketing budgets for small businesses tend to be small), but I can tell you it’s worth it.
And the best thing about it? You are supporting your local community, and getting to learn a little more about some of the people that help make our area great.
There really is no reason not to try.
Happy shopping.
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