This article is a clarion call for an end to what can feel like relentless online negativity about our town.

We all know that these are strange and challenging times for our rapidly changing high streets.

It's a transitional era, with people choosing to shop increasingly online, ongoing issues around town centre parking, certain bigger chains choosing to move out of town and more.

We mere mortals can't do a great deal about much of this, but I do feel that we need to all pull together to keep the vibe positive and the shops busy.

ALSO READ: Meet the woman behind Macclesfield's new independent bookshop

Suzy runs the Quiet Cat Bookshop with her partner, Ian (Credit: Suzy Prince)

I spent my early years in Macclesfield, leaving at a young age but coming back throughout my childhood to visit relatives.

After 30 years of big city living, when I realised that what I was craving now is more of a 'town' life, moving back to Macc was a no brainer.

When my family got here just over three years ago, town centre retail was visibly in a much better state than it is now, with most of the bigger Mill street units occupied.

According to some local retailers I've spoken to, footfall's dropped considerably since M&S moved out of town… It's a tough one to sort out.

But ever since I moved here, I've noticed that the coffee shops and cafes seem to be thriving, meaning that people are clearly still coming into town.

I had a strong feeling that the town would welcome an independent bookshop, because I knew that I'd hotfoot it to one as a customer if it was here.

My partner and I have a bookshop already in South Manchester so we're not starting from scratch in terms of supply chains and so on.

After a couple of false starts, I discovered that the Grosvenor Centre, in the heart of town, is actively looking for new and independent businesses to fill the units on this particular strip in the shopping centre. It all fell into place.

The shop opened for business in August (Credit: Suzy Prince)

We've been open for six weeks now, and from day one there's been a real sense that the people of Macclesfield and beyond are very happy to support our independent bookshop.

Sales have been encouraging, we've had lots and lots of browsers and buyers through the doors and many people telling us how delighted they are that we're here, and how keen they are to ensure that it stays that way.

We are very clear that we're a bookshop for the whole community, and we sell a mixture of carefully selected and curated full priced and lower priced brand new books. So far it's been working a treat.

I think it's time for us to publicly call out the keyboard warriors who pile onto any and all posts on social media every time anybody posts anything about a new venture opening up in the town centre.

Heaven forbid it's a coffee shop or nail salon: in that case there will be various comments about 'just what the town doesn't need: another one of these'. 'What we need is clothes/shoe shops' (delete as applicable) etc. I've seen the Treacle Market blamed by some people for bad weather, initiatives to improve the town shot down with 'why bother? The town's dead now' type comments and so on.

In our case, somebody responded to a positive post by a local author about The Quiet Cat, by saying that  they feel it won't last long when we have certain other shops with the same items / layout and one of which is cheaper.

People jumped to the shop's defence, and it quickly transpired that the person who posted hasn't been into my shop yet (although I hope she does soon for a good old browse), and didn't intend the post to be as negative as it seemed.

A quick fact checking mission disproved the comment straight away, But there is no denying that these types of throwaway posts can be damaging for businesses in town, at an exact time when we need all the support we can get.

You can find The Quiet Cat Bookshop in The Grosvenor Centre (opposite Timpson's and The Coffee House). It is open from 9.30am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday (Credit: Suzy Prince)

I truly believe that it's the independent shops that will save Macclesfield's retail but that can only happen if everybody makes the effort to support them, both by shopping in them and also keeping online commenting positive and upbeat.

The reality is that if people from out of town read negative posts about our town, they will probably feel less inclined to visit.

And there's so much to visit here for, so let's keep shouting from the rooftops about the great shops and more that you can find here, rather than focussing on what's not here anymore, and criticising what is.

Suzy Prince - The Quiet Cat Bookshop

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