No Business Like Local Business

Ballasalla businesses are making a heartfelt plea to customers, ‘use us or lose us’, as two neighbouring independents join forces to encourage locals to shop small and support the village.

The Quirky Teapot Café and Ballasalla Stores, both based on the main road in the village, have taken to social media with emotional messages highlighting the pressures facing small independent businesses.

Ballasalla Stores said they are ‘doing our best every single day to keep things fresh, affordable, and personal in a world full of big chains and self-service checkouts’.

The shop added: ‘When you shop with us, you’re not just buying your essentials, you’re keeping a local business alive, supporting local jobs, and helping keep your community thriving.

‘So next time you need your groceries… use us or lose us. We’d really rather stick around.’

The Quirky Teapot Café echoed the sentiment, saying: ‘We’re not a big chain. We don’t have corporate backing.

‘We’re just a small independent business trying to serve our community the best we can every single day.’

The café added that without regular support, small businesses like theirs cannot remain open, urging customers to ‘use us, support us, choose local’.

The two businesses, which often work closely together, have also launched a joint promotion this week in a bid to encourage footfall.

Customers who spend £20 at Ballasalla Stores will receive 10% off at The Quirky Teapot Café when spending over £10, simply by showing a receipt.

The café said the offer is about ‘keeping it local, supporting each other, and spreading the love through the village’.