At Mexican goods hop Otomi, owner Louise said: “I would say we’ve ridden the living crisis quite well, but I think that’s because we sell a lot of food items. I think when people are spending less going out to eat, they want to stay at home and cook nice food. So I think we’ve done OK and we haven’t seen big losses like some companies have, because I think we’ve just managed to hit the market right. During COVID we did OK, because again, people were eating at home. We’ve got the ingredients we sell, they’re not luxury products but they're slightly unusual, so you can’t get them in your supermarket. Our profits are down because everything is more expensive, but we’re still selling. In that sense, it is harder because we’re trying not to put our prices up, we’re trying to keep them as low as possible. We’ve taken a hit because everything else is costing more, but we’ve still got customers coming back.”At Mexican goods hop Otomi, owner Louise said: “I would say we’ve ridden the living crisis quite well, but I think that’s because we sell a lot of food items. I think when people are spending less going out to eat, they want to stay at home and cook nice food. So I think we’ve done OK and we haven’t seen big losses like some companies have, because I think we’ve just managed to hit the market right. During COVID we did OK, because again, people were eating at home. We’ve got the ingredients we sell, they’re not luxury products but they're slightly unusual, so you can’t get them in your supermarket. Our profits are down because everything is more expensive, but we’re still selling. In that sense, it is harder because we’re trying not to put our prices up, we’re trying to keep them as low as possible. We’ve taken a hit because everything else is costing more, but we’ve still got customers coming back.”
At Mexican goods hop Otomi, owner Louise said: “I would say we’ve ridden the living crisis quite well, but I think that’s because we sell a lot of food items. I think when people are spending less going out to eat, they want to stay at home and cook nice food. So I think we’ve done OK and we haven’t seen big losses like some companies have, because I think we’ve just managed to hit the market right. During COVID we did OK, because again, people were eating at home. We’ve got the ingredients we sell, they’re not luxury products but they're slightly unusual, so you can’t get them in your supermarket. Our profits are down because everything is more expensive, but we’re still selling. In that sense, it is harder because we’re trying not to put our prices up, we’re trying to keep them as low as possible. We’ve taken a hit because everything else is costing more, but we’ve still got customers coming back.”

We meet traders in the poshest part of Bristol to see how the cost of living has impacted business

By Adriana Amor
Published 9th Feb 2024, 14:43 BST

To what extent has the ongoing economic situation impacted Clifton businesses?

Clifton Village is a beautiful area with stunning Georgian streets, terraces and squares and home to the Clifton Arcade, independent shops, boutiques and gift shops, to name a few.

But to what extent has the ongoing economic situation and cost of living impacted traders at Clifton Village?

We talked to five traders to see how business is going and the impacts the cost of living crisis and high energy bills have had. Here’s what we found:

We talked to five traders to see how business is going and the impacts the cost of living crisis and high energy bills have had. Here’s what we found:

At Motiq2, which had been open for 15 years and closed due to the pandemic and has now returned, Michelle Cos, the owner, said: “I don't think it’s affected me so much because I have a lot of very regular customers who know me, and I try to keep my prices as reasonable as I can. And I think that Clifton has this sort of pull because people like to see individual independent shops. I do think that they want to help people like myself and independent shops and that's why I think it hasn't had a huge impact, but obviously, people are careful and just hopefully that people appreciate what we bring to the village.”

5. Motiq2

At Motiq2, which had been open for 15 years and closed due to the pandemic and has now returned, Michelle Cos, the owner, said: “I don't think it’s affected me so much because I have a lot of very regular customers who know me, and I try to keep my prices as reasonable as I can. And I think that Clifton has this sort of pull because people like to see individual independent shops. I do think that they want to help people like myself and independent shops and that's why I think it hasn't had a huge impact, but obviously, people are careful and just hopefully that people appreciate what we bring to the village.”

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Related topics:Cost of livingBristolTradersEnergy bills

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