Essex toy shop blown away by support for remember us plea

The social media post has "made a difference" to sales Mr Wohl said

An independent shop keeper who posted on social media urging people to "remember us" said he had been "blown away" by the support.

Paul Wohl, the owner of Argosy Toys in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, said his store and many others were "swimming against the tide of Amazon".

The shop has been in the town for 74 years.

Mr Wohl's post was soon seen by one million people on Facebook, liked 3,000 times and shared 16,000 times.

He normally posts just before Christmas urging people to "remember the independents".

Due to the uncertainty of getting stock because of a national shortage of hauliers, he said he wanted to "get the message out early" this year.

Since the post, he said his telephone had been "lighting up".

"I have 400 messages to get through," he said. "It really is the power of social media.

"It's been almost like a Christmas Eve-style shopping day."

Paul Wohl's family bought Argosy Toys in 1987 after it was established in 1947

Mr Wohl said his business had been hit by the Covid pandemic and the lockdowns that followed.

"After everything we've been through, the small businesses really suffered, but wow, this has been really amazing," he said.

"We've had loads of people coming in and buying toys and they were all saying 'we saw you on social media and we want to buy something from you'."

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Dr Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, a consumer psychologist at Anglia Ruskin University, said the pandemic had changed some consumer habits, with more people shopping locally.

"A lot of people have built up more of an independent connection to their High Streets and this is potentially very good news," she said.

"So to do what Argosy have done, to remind people of this, it's a great idea as we all do need a reminder as we're going back to normal lives."

She said it might indicate people were looking for an alternative to online shopping.

"We've all spent so much time on screen," she said. "We want a real interaction."