In these trying times, only businesses that can offer something extra special are keeping customers coming back.

Jan Lawrence has been a familiar face in the Edwardian Arcade for more than a decade with her delightful shop Charisma.  Jan is a curator of beautiful things which make perfect gifts, and now she is selling pretty masks, which are an accessory as well as a functional face-covering.

Her son Jedd has turned his hobby of collecting ‘retro’ memorabilia into a paying business. He opened his small shop alongside his mum’s in October 2019 and got off to a cracking start until the Covid crisis hit. But, the best things keep coming back, and he is back selling an interesting range of TV, movies and retro-gaming merchandising.

“There’s no set pattern to shopping anymore, whereas as Saturdays used to be the busiest day, now there is no rule to it and we just take each day as it comes” said Jan, who was featured on TV talking about masks,

“Some people welcome wearing masks as it makes them feel safer, others don’t like them and only put them on if they come in the shop. I wear one to make people feel safe.”

The Bedford Business Improvement District is promoting the town as Open for Business across its Love Bedford online platforms, in print, and by seizing opportunities such as TV coverage when the cameras come to town. 

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