Last month the first Pop Up Britain shop opened for business in Richmond with six online vendors getting their first taste of operating in a retail environment and getting the chance to meet their customer face to face.
Philip Morrow, a British sock retailer had already covered his share of the rent of the PopUp Britain shop for two weeks within just two hours of opening.
Another online retailer getting their first taste of shop keeping struck lucky with the timing. Cycling accessory retailer Nick Hussey from Vulpine told us “The Olympics, along with Brad Wiggins’ Tour de France victory, has been extraordinary for us. Online sales have tripled, we’ve been asked for interviews on TV, radio and print and traffic has increased enormously. And we make casual, not racing cycling apparel! Being in Richmond is ideal because it is likely the most dense epicentre of keen cyclists in the UK. Richmond Park, the cycling Mecca of London, is nearby. And the Surrey Hills, offering the route of the road cycling Olympic events, are local roads!”
There are now six fresh businesses in the Pop Up Britain Richmond shop, and the entire shop has a new look and field having been dressed by the new arrivals who are:
Bluebird Tea Company
Partners Krisi Smith and Mike Turner supply funky loose leaf teas called ‘Monkey Chops’- the banana tea, ‘Birthday Cake’ – with real cake sprinkles, tea cocktails, tea smoothies and iced tea, their inspired infusions bring a smile to your lips.
bluebirdteaco.com
London Mummy
Esther Gibbs created London Mummy to showcase gorgeous products available for children, which aren’t readily available on the High Street.
londonmummy.com
Fashion Angel Collective
Tess Blenkinsop and Zafara Design are two businesses from Fashion Angel Collective. Fashion Angel is the brainchild of Alison Lewy and sprang from her time as Commercial Director of the Fashion and Textile Museum, where she encountered a constant demand from emerging and established fashion industry entrepreneurs.
fashion-angel.co.uk
Little Babas
Tiny fancy dress costume start-up Little Babas was set up by mum Robyn Dean. She spotted a gap in the market and set about designing and making a range of colourful outfits in a range of animal characters for babies from six months-old to five years.
littlebabas.com
Peach Blossom
Alyssa Williamson decided the UK’s party industry needed some fresh inspiration so she set up Peach Blossom – an amazing range of pretty and stylish party products and alternative party accessories like stripy straws, colourful paper bags and photo props.
peachblossom.co.uk
Bikini Fling
Alexia Pinchbeck came up with the sensational idea for her bikini company while on holiday. After deciding to do a number of daring, eye-watering challenges with her mates in the sunshine, she set about designing some classic two-pieces to match.
bikinifling.com
Emma Jones of StartUp Britain who are behind the Pop Up Britain campaing told us “We’re delighted to see our newest retailers in the shop. The last six businesses did extremely well, more than covering their initial outlay and costs as well as getting their brands out in front of Richmond shoppers“.
If you’d like to find out more about PopUp Britain or maybe even rent the shop for your own goods you can find more details on the PopUp Britain website.
2 Responses
Thanks for supporting the Pop Up Britain in Richmond. As one of the newest arrivals I am delighted at the response we have all received from shoppers, not just from Richmond but also Kew, Teddington, Barnes, Twickenham and my home town of Chiswick.
The success and fantastic positive feedback London Mummy has had so far just goes to prove that shoppers do want the small independents on the High Street!