“The most enjoyable part of the job is the people you work with” – Carle Wootton

Some of the contents of this article were first published by Luke Akton, can be found here.

This is the end of an era for Carle Wootton and the staff at Steve's Best Sellers after 54 years of trading at Chrisp Street Market. Carle started trading at the market in 1965 as a tea boy because he wanted to buy a pair of jeans. After trading at various stalls, then to the arcade, he landed at the current location in 1990. To successfully stay in business for so many years should serve as an inspiration to us all while providing a positive model of independence through hard work and caring for those you work with and serve.

“Please and thank you with a smile doesn’t cost a penny. No-one talks to anybody anymore, everybody sticks their nut down and just carries on walking.”

So true. Which leads to another dynamic affecting all retail today – changing technology, the internet and online shopping. With so many people now fixated on mobile devices and increasingly accustomed to ordering goods online, how can a local trader maintain, if not increase, its competitiveness against the giant infrastructure models that e-commerce retailers continue to roll out? Well, one of the many things we can learn from any trader who has survived as long as Carle Wootton is that positive and sincere interactions with people create lasting memories and experiences… Because even in this rapidly changing technological world of retail, it's still all about people.

Steve's Best Sellers' last day of trading was January 19, 2019. Good luck and best wishes to Carle and all of the other traders at Chrisp Street Market. And if you are reading this Carle, if (or when) you get a little bored with those everyday tasks and feel like dabbling as a writer and/or sharing, the blog section of this site would love to publish any of your (or any other current or past traders') insights, thoughts, stories or whatever… feel free to use this platform.