Behind the scenes - my ‘virtual’ buying appointments
Over the last few weeks I have been buying for Aw21, although not in my usual way. No travel was involved at all, which was slightly disappointing as I love nothing better than a day away meeting Pauline at Waverley for a Pret a Manger breakfast before we head on to Glasgow to see as many agents as we can. Most of our agents are based in Glasgow all year round or if not and from the Midlands, they take a showroom for a few days and we go through to see them. It's always really good fun to go on a bit of a field trip and to get out and about, to have a good catch up and chat about the industry as a whole.
But, this year it's all been done via my laptop on Zoom meetings, with a cup of tea and pile of biscuits at home in a warm kitchen, with the radio on. The appointments have gone really well and I’m feeling very pleased with how straight forward it has been and it's amazing how much detail you can see. It's only taken me around an hour per meeting compared to a day of travelling, as I looked through their line sheets beforehand and sent through photos taken of any of the styles I'm particularly interested in and then building a look from there. 
Could this or should this be the way forward - I don't know?! What about trade shows? I can't describe the buzz you feel when you enter a trade show, seeing all the companies and their stands - music playing. glasses of fizzy being handed out, meeting agents who have now become friends, discovering new brands and placing new orders and trying to be sensible about it!
I guess we just need to wait and see, but in the meantime if this is what we need to do - it's all working perfectly well. Perhaps I should be swapping my tea for fizzy as I'm not having to drive home!
Until next time!
T x