Constable Gallichan’s cows

There’s a sign on the road that leads up to my house with the silhouette of a Jersey cow, it’s scratched and a little battered. I’ve often wondered when the last cow crossed this road to the fields across the way from my house which used to be part of an old Jersey farm.

Yesterday I was reminded of the poignancy of that sign by the announcement that Mr. Gallichan who lives down the road from me has decided to give up his herd of Jersey cows because the numbers simply don’t stack up any more.

How I’ll miss Constable Gallichan’s cows.

Every morning on my way into work I, like so many other Islanders who live in the Trinity area drive past Mr. Gallichan’s farm and over the years I’ve got used to watching the activities of these simple ruminants. If I was really early, maybe going to catch the “red eye” I would be in time to see the cattle gathering outside the milking shed, steaming in the misty early morning electric light long before dawn.

If I was a little later the cows would have vanished, but from the intensity of the light pouring out of the buildings one could tell that the milking was in full swing.

A little later still and the cows would be out in the field grazing away come rain or shine.

Then there were the slight irritations: Mr. Gallichan moving the cows across the road as early morning commuters impatiently waited whilst he battled with that last cow that had just spotted the perfect piece of grass, and then finally once across he waved us on; the smell of the slurry that reminded one of the less savoury jobs on the farm.

But this morning as I went past Mr. Gallichan’ s farm there were no lights, no cows looking dolefully at us fretting commuters, the gentle rhythms to which I have become so accustomed have stopped, replaced by the ghosts of what has been.

How I’ll miss Constable Gallichan’s cows.

Happy New Year - how was it for you?

Shopping trends around Christmas seem to have changed dramatically over the last 2 or 3 years, which makes humble retailers like me very nervous when it comes to guestimating what levels of stock to carry.

What we are seeing is a definite split in December. Early December seems to be internet time, whilst late December and in particular the last week before Christmas seems to be coming increasingly critical to the success of December as a whole for retailers. A case of having to hold your nerve.

Our experience was that in the first 2 weeks of December we were 10% down on the comparable period last year, however the final week and in fact the final day before Christmas turned this all around to see us improve by over 10% over the whole month, effectively a 20% swing in 7 days of trading.

There were some local issues, the weather wasn't great in early December, however we didn't open on any of the Sundays as we had done the previous year (I personally have a moral issue in this regard- but I guess I'm a bit old fashioned!) and only went for one late night shopping opening. On an Island like Jersey it proves to me that opening all the hours God gives you only serves to spread the same trade over a huge number of additional hours; is totally unnecessary and in my view destroys community.

What does it all prove? Well I reckon that if you're in the consumable business any credit crunch which results in consumer spending reducing should have a limited impact. I think that is what Marks and Spencer found, with their food side remaining strong, whilst their clothing suffered.

I think consumers are starting to revert to item they need, rather than want. However having said that there was a great interest in speciality coffees that are competitively priced. Our customers increasingly want to experiment with coffees they've never tried before. The key is education; storage issues, cleaning, warming, shelf life once opened etc.

We've also found that recommending the local Jersey full fat (yellow) milk for use in Cafetieres (French press) has also enhanced many of our customer's experience of our coffees. In fact I've had two people stop me in the street they were so pleased.

The future though for speciality retailers like us I believe ultimately lies in "localness" - the network of local small businesses working together to produce a unique offering of which the community is proud.

Quality, quality, quality