Sussex-based Office Club member, Lorimers, has not allowed the current crisis to slow down their ambitious plans for 2020; quite the opposite, with a lot of hard graft they have continued with the launch of their own brand art supplies Zieler and have even been running free online art courses for customers spending more time at home.
“Like most bricks-and-mortar retailers across the country, we were forced to close our shops after 23rd March following the government’s announcement.” Explains Director and Co-Founder, Raj Patel.
“Just a few months prior to this we had begun work on an online art supplies store, Zieler, designed and created by Office Club, offering us excellent advice and expertise along the way. Most websites take some time to get off the ground, so we were not expecting too much until perhaps the lead up to Christmas.
“However, with shops closed and the majority of the UK population stuck at home, the demand for art supplies rose significantly as people looked to pass their time. With all of our staff furloughed my brother, Kiren, and I took it upon ourselves to fulfil all the online orders, working 7 days a week as we looked to keep to our promise to have goods dispatched the same day or the next working day.
“Though it’s been a tough grind with lots of manual work and long hours, it has given us so much pleasure to hear the joy we have brought to many people during these difficult times. Not only have they loved our products, but they’ve also appreciated the guidance and advice we have provided them.”
Under lockdown many customers are taking to watercolour and acrylic painting for the first time. As Zieler works with a team of artists who test and approve their products, the brothers went one step further to offer free online art classes to help customers to get maximum use from their Zieler art supplies.
“The art classes have proved very popular” explains Raj, “our customers have asked us to continue with them ongoing, so they are now a regular occurrence. It’s amazing to see so many people join our community and get creative. We’ve even had customers email us their artwork whether it’s done using our acrylic or watercolour paints, paint pens, calligraphy pens or lino printing kit.”
Almost 3 months on from the outbreak and Lorimers are soon to re-open their retail shops and look forward to welcoming back their staff to work in a hope for a return to some form of normality.
As for Zieler, the dedication and hard graft given to the brand during lockdown will surely benefit going forward as Raj and Kiren continue their work to help and guide budding artists all over.
Find out more: https://www.zieler.co.uk
