Love in the Time of Coronavirus - A Note From Suzy

In reference to one of my favourite books, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I wanted to reach out to you all, Sahara’s valued customers at this incredibly surreal time in the hope that you’re safe and coping as best you can without panicking, and staying informed without being overwhelmed – a challenging feat for us all.. 

 

As a family-run business, which has been thriving since the 1970s, it’s heart breaking for us to watch businesses closing all around us here in London, the UK and across the globe. 

 

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In an effort to protect our customers, our 150+ employees and our wonderful local communities in these times of such great uncertainty, we have made the decision to close our Sahara stores for the next two weeks, possibly longer, depending on government advice. We need to do what we can to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.

 

My family and I have been running Sahara for almost 50 years - it goes against everything in our nature to consider temporarily closing our doors. It’s more than a business to us and for many of our employees, it’s a lifestyle, it’s one of the reasons we get up every day and above all, Sahara is our absolute passion. But we are facing extraordinary times indeed…

 

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The good news is that you can continue to shop Sahara's collections from the comfort of your home, and we will be offering free UK delivery for all UK online orders at this time. Simply enter FREE at checkout. 

For your safety, every precaution is being taken regarding hygiene. Our warehouse team members are working hard independently and wearing Nitrile gloves when handling all orders, and changing them at regular intervals. Orders will be sourced in their original packaging where applicable for limited garment handling, and left in them until ready for packing. Full packing procedures will be carried out by the same team member to limit contact where possible. Online returns are also being left for 48 hours without being touched to ensure no contamination of the outgoing stock and to keep our employees safe and healthy.

 

Our Spring/Summer Collections and guest designer edits will continue to launch weekly on saharalondon.com.

 

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We've got some ideas, but we don't know how viable they are at present. We understand that many of you won’t be venturing out for some time, so if you don’t fancy shopping online, but would still like to see our collections in person while you are self-isolating, we are considering offering a door drop service from some of our regional retail boutiques to those who live nearby our stores.

 

The idea would be to deliver a selection of items to your door, with no contact required, for you to try on in the comfort of your own home. Anything you would like to keep we can take payment for over the phone and items that you would like to return can be left outside your door for someone to collect. Unwanted items will be left untouched for 48 hours before processing for hygiene reasons. 

 

We don't know whether this will be logistically possible for all stores yet, we're thinking out loud and a little prematurely perhaps. However, if this is a service that interests you, please contact the manager of your nearest store. 

 

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We will carry on running our social media channels, Facebook and Instagram, as a way of keeping you continually updated. Keep an eye out for our 'Home Comforts' series on the journal, where we will be exploring immunity-boosting nutrition, interesting reads & culture, recipes, positive news and more. If there is any content you feel might brighten your days, please let us know, we really do want to hear from you!

 

Our customer care lines are still open as normal from 10am to 6pm GMT Monday to Friday Tel: +44 (0)20 7483 8435, customercare@saharalondon.com. We have also introduced Live Chat on our website so you can contact us that way too if you prefer, providing there is a stylist available. Simply click on the link on the bottom right-hand corner of any of our online pages and you’ll be connected to someone.

 

We look forward to the time when things return to some semblance of normal! 
Until then, please stay safe and let’s take extra care of each other, albeit from a distance.

 

With Love,

Suzy Coppersmith-Heaven
Founder & Creative Director