Ballymena traders glad of return to business and chance to see old friends

Libis McAllister, who owns Ultimate In Fashion, a bespoke ladies fashion boutique, said: “I think the government sprung it on us (non-essential retailers) too quickly, we were only told on Tuesday. Mine is a small shop so fortunately I could get into action very quickly.

“We allow four customers in at a time based on the square footage we have. We’ve one large fitting room where people can try clothes on. We steam clothes that are tried on but not bought.”

She commented: “It’s been a lovely atmosphere. The women who shop here are just so happy to get out and get talking to each other.

“We’ve been open for 34 years, a lot of my customers are like friends now. I think they were just happy to see us and see our other regular customers. Some of them were standing outside catching up, swapping their lockdown stories.”

She said: “Business has been good and brisk. We’re not having the turnover we would normally have the first day of our sale because you can’t have the same amount of people in the shop, but it’s been steady.

“Our sale would normally start mid-June anyway. We just decided to start with a sale [yesterday]. I think everybody deserves a little bit of discount at the minute just to encourage them to come out again.”

Wysebyse has been in Ballymena for 50 years and owner Richard McLoughlin can’t remember another time when his business took such a hit: In 50 years trading in Ballymena — during the Troubles when you had to have a permit to drive the car into the town — this last while has been the worst ever.”

He added: “It’s great to see a buzz back in Ballymena even though not all the businesses are open yet.

“But it’s coming back, it’s good to see the high street so popular.

“It’s more than just shopping, it’s meeting friends, so much more sociable that shopping online.

“It was good to hear some young people saying they were glad to see the shops open again, they were tired of shopping on the internet. It’s very encouraging.”

He commented: “Footfall has been lower but baskets have been fuller because people are not coming into browse, they’re coming in to buy.”

Stephen Reynolds, Chairman of Ballymena Business Improvement District, (pictured), said: “The traffic around Ballymena [yesterday] was phenomenal. You had the vehicle traffic and you could see pedestrian traffic on the streets. It’s fantastic to see that after all this time in lockdown.

“Our message is Shop Safe, Shop Ballymena. A lot of people have been very pro-active. The shops we visited have gloves, they have screens, they have sanitiser.”

People have been doing their homework and getting prepared for this day coming.

Stephen, who owns the Front Page bar, said: “Ironically we’re celebrating our 30th year in lockdown. Hospitality is obviously a big part of the contribution in any town - the coffee shops, the bars, the restaurants – hopefully we’ll get an announcement soon as to when we can re-open.”

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