A sales assistant at one of March’s longest-running clothes shops hopes community spirit can help pull it through one of its most challenging times.
Level 7 has been trading on High Street for over 20 years, and is one of three stores in the Fens.
During that time, the women’s clothing shop has attracted many supporters for its range of items, from splendid sweaters to dresses, as well as fashionable accessories for many occasions.
“We have done some work online, too, because we found during lockdown, we have got to do something to survive, and we’re just about up and running online,” Catherine Petchey, sales assistant at Level 7, said.
“It’s allowing people to find out more about us. Nobody wants to see any of the shops disappear in our high street, and I think it’s sad to see how many we have lost already.”
On our visit to the store, the quality of products was clear to see, fitting in as many items as possible into the space available.
Catherine said the shop, which she runs with one other colleague, has grown its customer base through word of mouth over a number of years, and have also introduced a loyalty scheme.
“For a number of years, we have had a good core community of ladies. We have found a few of our ladies came from Wisbech, and a lot of that is down to word of mouth,” she said.
“We run a loyalty scheme, which we hope encourages customers, where if you pay £150, we give them a £15 voucher.
“We know a lot of our customers and I have, on occasion, come back in the evenings because they are slightly worried.”
It’s that commitment to make the customer feel at ease that has spurred Catherine on during her time at Level 7, as they look to continue making the same impact digitally as well as in person.
Catherine hopes the shop’s annual fashion shows can take place this year, and with a website also in the making, a push for a bright future is well and truly on the cards.
“In normal times, we used to do fashion shows for Women’s Institute groups, and I hope that runs again this year,” she added.
“I know we have been talking about doing something with the website so that we can target some of our older customers too.
“We are just trying to go with whatever we can do to make people feel comfortable.”
Level 7 is located at 42A High Street, telephone number 01354 661145.
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