The owner of an award-winning Horwich clothes shop has put out a plea as orders are ‘constantly being cancelled’. Angela Stevens, aged 50, owns the Ruby Rose Boutique on Lee Lane, Horwich. The shop was crowned the ‘Best in Bolton’ in 2019 after receiving hundreds of votes.
In a post on Facebook, the shop announced it would now be forced to take a deposit when customers reserve items, ‘due to orders constantly being cancelled and not collected’. Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox. Speaking to The Bolton News, Angela said: “It’s only a minority of customers; it’s not everybody, obviously.
“It’s just when people comment that they want to buy something and I pop it to one side, and then they don’t turn up, and then I have to put it back out – it just gets a bit frustrating, because obviously we’re a small business .” Angela, who grew up in Horwich, has operated the shop for 12 years. However, she now cannot afford to pay staff – meaning that she works alone for most days of the weeks, only employing a staff member on Saturdays.
The shop owner said that the impact of supermarkets and online shopping are making things more difficult, with a boom caused by people ‘shopping local’ during lockdown not translating into a long-term trend – with many now travelling further afield. Follow The Bolton News on Facebook , Instagram , X (Twitter) , and TikTok . Angela said: “I’m really concerned about footf.
