Closing Down Sale …
Firstly, Juliet & I want to sincerely thank you for your custom, conversations and kind words over the last 10 years, following our taking over the reigns of the Official UK Puzzle Club from Margaret in 2014.
We were new to the world of jigsaw-puzzling and have to admit that it took us a while to find our feet, but with your support it has, in the most part, been a really enjoyable experience.
We experienced a real boom in sales during the Covid pandemic as everyone was asked to stay at home and they found new ways to fill their time by completing puzzles. That period was so successful for jigsaw puzzles it spawned a lot of new businesses who are still selling today.
More businesses meant more competition and as quite a few of the ‘covid-puzzlers’ returned to their usual pursuits after Covid, it became difficult to sell puzzles with more sellers and fewer customers.
When mixed in with the general state of the economy meaning everyone’s pockets were feeling pinched (and very much still are) it became extremely difficult to sell the number of puzzles we had previously been selling at the same volume and prices.
We moved to smaller premises, reduced our staff level (Jig is happily employed elsewhere now) and tried to discount our puzzle prices on older puzzles, but the level of sales has continued to drop throughout 2024.
We know quite a few of you rely on us for your puzzles, but unfortunately there are just too few people buying regularly to cover the costs of running a business, even one as small as ours. Over the last 6 months in particular we have been working so hard to avoid the difficulties, but have just been unable to resolve matters.
This has led us to the sad decision that we have to close the business.
We have a limited number of jigsaw puzzles left in stock (stock list as of 16th July here) which we will be looking to sell by the 6th August. We cannot take card payments or ‘Puzzle Club’ cheques after that as the Puzzle Club bank account will have been closed, but you can still send cheques payable to ‘Mark Barratt’. Please call first if possible as stock levels are very limited so what you want may be sold elsewhere before we receive your order if you post it without letting us know first.
If you would like more puzzles than you can afford right now, please give us a ring and we can see about a ‘special price’ so that you can have what you are looking for.
Puzzle Prices – 500pc (& under) – £5.00, 636pc – £6.00, 1000pc (& over) – £10.00 No GOLD discount available.
Postage – Single Puzzle – £3.50, Multi-puzzle 2nd Class or Single Puzzle 1st class – £7, Orders over £50 – Free
We hope that you continue puzzling in whatever means you can over the coming weeks, months and years and wish you all good health and happiness.
Your Friends in Puzzling
Mark & Juliet