Choosing to shop local won’t just help sustain the high street in enduring the pandemic, there’s benefits for you too.

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Now the high street is open again, we’re all free to take to the aisles once more. Online shopping may have been a lockdown life-saver, but it’s no substitute for the real thing. After all, nothing beats the ability to see and feel products before you buy them, and nowhere is this more essential than when buying for your home.

For those still shielding, new virtual shopping technology provides the closest thing to the full retail experience you can get without leaving the house. Brands like Quooker even let you schedule virtual appointments, so you can explore its full offering from the safety of your own home.

The freedom to get back onto the high street comes the responsibility of doing so in a calm, considered manner. So please remember to shop safe and protect yourself and others by wearing a mask indoors and practising social distancing at all times.

Good Homes has teamed up with Quooker as part of the Love Your High Street campaign, so here’s five reasons why you should head back to the high street when it comes to shopping for your home.

New discoveries

When online shopping, do you spend hours browsing or just head to tried and trusted websites for your homewares fix? Either way, it can be a frustrating way to shop that can mean missing out on new brands and trends just by looking in the wrong place. You never know when a visit to your local town centre could mean discovering a brand new interiors favourite that you’d have never come across online.

Visit showrooms

Image: Quooker

If you’re considering a new bathroom or kitchen, a visit to your local showroom is an invaluable part of the process. While virtual design appointments have become better than ever during lockdown, being able to handle samples and see examples of work surfaces, tiles, cabinetry and taps in real life can really aid the decision-making process and ensure you don’t end up with buyer’s remorse when making a significant home investment.

No parcel stress

Online shopping has grown hugely during 2020, but that’s meant an extra strain on postal and courier services that has increased waiting times, especially around Christmas. Everyone has a story of missing a vital delivery, finding a parcel left out in the rain or left with a mystery neighbour. Shopping on the high street means you get it then and there, with no long lead times or waiting in for your delivery window!

Support small businesses

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Small business owners are some of the most passionate people there are about homes and interiors, but without a healthy social media following or a website search expert, it can be a struggle to launch an interiors startup online, no matter how passionate you are. A bricks and mortar store offers them a chance to put their gorgeous homewares in front of you, without you spending hours scouring the internet. You can’t deny the feel-good factor that every purchase you make is helping to grow their business and encouraging other small businesses to set up in the local area.

Take a screen break

We’ve all heard of retail therapy, but during lockdown, this has translated into many, many more hours staring at phones or computer screens. However, trawling your favourite homewares websites isn’t going to give you a breath of fresh air, nor is it going to add to your step count for the day. So, as long as it’s safe for you to do so, you can count shopping the high street as a good reason to get outdoors after a year where we’ve spent more time than ever at home.

For more information about the Love Your High Street campaign and to find your local Quooker showroom, visit the Quooker website or call 0345 8333 555