The owner of a High Wycombe ski shop has revealed his frustration due to the lack of customers in recent months.
Dominic Stalder, who is the proprietor of SportCrest which is based in the Eden Shopping Centre, showed the Free Press their wide range of winter jackets, trousers and fleeces, along with their collection of helmets that can be used for those who want to hit the slopes.
However, despite being based in one of the largest shopping complexes in the Thames Valley, situated next to affluent areas such as Gerrards Cross, Marlow, Beaconsfield, Penn, Jordans and Amersham, he admitted that some ski enthusiasts ‘forget’ that the shop is in the town.
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He also revealed that many customers will come to store ‘if they have forgotten something’ after shopping for equipment online, or in London.
As well as selling ski gear, Sport Crest also sells school uniforms, bags, socks, paddles/rackets and football memorabilia.
They also offer shirt printings and shirt restorations, being one of the few businesses to do this in the South East of England.
He told the Free Press: “We’re one of the few local ski shops in the area and the only one in High Wycombe.
“We're one of the very few in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.
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“We do get some people from London visit us, particularly to get ski jackets and trousers, but a lot of people don’t know we’re here on their doorstep.
“They don’t think ski shops around here still exist and I don’t know why that is.
“It’s very frustrating that people will come to us if they forget something from their initial ski shop somewhere else, as they don’t know we’re here.
“Whenever there is a prospect of snow, we do see a bit more business but people will order something online, try it on, say it doesn’t fit, then send it back, when they can come in here first time round.”
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