The owner of an independent shop in Marlow has revealed that other local businesses 'have been forgotten’, as customers have started to return to chain stores.

Lora Wilson, who founded the environmental-friendly shop Seed1 on Liston Court, published an emotional plea on the Facebook page Marlow Life, where she revealed that on June 27, she only had TWO customers.

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This comes after the Government confirmed that shops were able to reopen in the middle of June.

Lora said: “We worked so hard during lockdown to provide food for our community when the larger shops were closed or had ridiculously long waits for delivery slots (for very little return) because we care about our community and wanted everyone to be OK.

“We invested in launching a veg box delivery scheme for those unable to get supermarket slots, bought in alcohol hand-sanitiser which we passed on at cost to keep everyone safe, provided over 800 free emergency food parcels to those unable to buy food due to sudden loss of income and made over 2,000 home deliveries free-of-charge to those in isolation.

“We didn’t do it for profit or for thanks, but because we care and love our community.

“However, it seems that now shops are returning to normal and people are able to get delivery slots from major supermarkets, we’ve been forgotten.

“Today we had two customers.

“Let that sink in...two customers.

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“When I walked home this afternoon, I passed a queue of at least 20 people outside one chain and at least 40 outside another, yet there was no queue outside the independent butchers or the green-grocers.

“Everyone complains when large chains take over high streets, but the reality is you need to shop local if you want independents to survive.

“We work really hard to bring good quality, affordable products to our communities but need your support to continue.

“We know it’s not possible for everyone to buy everything from independents, but even if you only switch to a few products that you don’t buy from the supermarkets, you’ll be helping to save your local businesses who ultimately will give more back to your community, so please shop local, shop independent and help these little businesses survive the current crisis.”

She then explained how there are other independent stores in Marlow that need the support of those who live in the town.

Following her plea, residents in Marlow have offered their support to Lora, with some stating that they will be using more independents than chains in the town.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time that a shop owner has urged Marlovians to use local stores than supermarkets.

READ MORE: Owner of Marlow Green worried following decline in sales, seven months after opening

In October 2019, Mohamed Farhi, who owns Marlow Green on Morris Place, admitted that he was worried his business could have gone under just sevens months after opening, as he was averaging 10-15 customers a day.

But thankfully, the business has since picked up more customers from the back end of last year.

To read Seed1's full statement, visit their Facebook page by clicking here.