Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
The Buy St
Elizabeth Blanck has seen a generation pass through her shop – couples getting married, having children and seeing them grow up.
She has run Fitzroy’s Flowers in North West London for 23 years, after setting it up with her mum. Elizabeth, 47, says her customer base has remained loyal but she has seen high street The appeal of online shopping is no mystery for Sarah Marshall and Angela Cooper – after all it’s where they started 15 years ago.
The pair set up The Dotty House online, creating personalised canvases as gifts for kids.
But four years ago they moved into shop premises and this year became part of the high Loyalty is one thing but Barry Everard knew he was doing something right when a customer said they wanted to be buried under his shop.
His Record Collector store has been a staple on Broomhill high street, Sheffield, for 40 years.
Barry says: “We are in the university district, which has become a night-time economy area. Supermarkets have moved in.”
And in a era of ever-present online music he said it’s important to have record shops to discover what people otherwise wouldn’t.
He said: “I feel a sense of importance in keeping culture and music alive on the high street. In a shop you have a huge selection, we are the biggest record shop in South Yorkshire.
“People come in and find things, we stock the obscure and the unusual and the hard to find.”
Barry is proud to have kept trading through
CDS and digital downloads and says: “Vinyl is back in style, every year there’s Record Store Day. It results in a bonanza for shops like ourselves. We get queues a couple of hundred yards long.
“We’re on a crusade to convince people shopping is fun and we can still be competitive.” changes, mainly independent shops being replaced with estate agents.
While she is unable to bulk buy like many bigger chains do, Elizabeth says personal service is key.
“A bunch of tulips may only be a pound cheaper in the supermarket” she says. “You get a personal service with us too, we buy the best quality stuff.
“We are in the shop to serve customers – that’s it. We need you, we need shoppers, we need people to come in and buy from us.” street in Gateshead. Sarah, 49, says: “We’ve been on the high street since May and we’ve seen a huge difference. We’ve taken a shop that was quite run down and revitalised it.”
They sell personalised gifts and North East specific presents but Sarah says a key thing is interaction with customers. She adds: “One lady dropped in and said she writes poems and asked if she produced them as a print, could we sell them?
“It’s been one of our best sellers.” When it comes to carrying on a family tradition, Christopher Freeman knows he’s got a lot of history on his side.
He may have spent 45 years as chairman of Dunn’s Bakery but the whole family have certainly done their time since it started with his great-great-grandfather in 1820.
His father came into the business in 1946, with Christopher taking over in 1973.
And his grandson Lewis, 26, is continuing the tradition by being managing director.
Based in Crouch End, North London, Christopher and the shop are valued parts of the local community.
He says: “I think the high street is vital to so many local communities.
“Not everyone has time to go and do huge shopping, lots of people want to shop locally and have a good relationship with traders and shopkeepers. It’s nicer way of life.”
Christopher says he has se many changes since he starte running the bakery and feels and customers want to move into the high street, rather th shopping centres.
He says: “You can give peo personal service to choose w items they want, you can mak bespoke things.
“People like to feel valued a feel important instead of simp number in a supermarket wh you can walk around and not engage with anyone at all.
“A high street contributes t local economy. A pound spen locally stays local – it benefits everyone.”
The most popular items Christopher sells include saus rolls, doughnuts, breakfast ro Danish pastries.