Black Friday…. and an apology

So first an apology if you were opening this expecting an unmissable discount for this weekend only…. Well this isn’t it.
 
As you may already be aware Black Friday is not an event that we sign up for, it’s basically a load of rubbish. Earlier this week I read that the carbon cost of Black Friday and Cyber Monday is high. In 2022 it was estimated that 400,000 tons of CO2 would be admitted into the atmosphere in the UK alone. This is the equivalent to over a million miles driven by the average petrol car.
 
Clothing and electronics are among the most popular Black Friday purchases. According to the Green Alliance 80% of electronics and clothing, plus the plastic packaging they are wrapped in, end up in landfill, incineration, or at best low quality recycling after a very short life.
 
The rise of Black Friday in the UK has largely been credited to Amazon, they continue to do extremely well (understatement) out of it. In recent years we have seen increasing numbers of retailers jumping on board, they are offering questionable discounts on stuff they convince consumers they need and they need right now!
 
It is not for me to criticise anyone for making the most of a discount especially right now in the current economic climate, it is tough for everyone and saving a few quid is not to be sniffed at. All I ask is that if do join the frenzy buy things that you want and not because you are told you need them.
 
I’ll be straight with you here, we are a retailer, we need to sell things and we need to sell things regularly or we don’t exist. We do however believe in selling responsibly, we believe in quality products and pieces that will stand the test of time. Retail is about trust and every product on sale in Tonic is here because we believe in it and we know you will get your money’s worth. We believe in long term relationships with our customers that’s why will not be screaming that you need to buy this and you need to buy it now.
 
If you do fancy spending some money this weekend we hope you’d think about spending it with us, but only if you need it….
 
See you soon
Phil
 
This year we will again make a donation to the Kensington and Chelsea Foodbank an organisation that helps support local people in the community who are struggling in these difficult times.