Traders making fresh start as town reopens
IT is still early in the morning, but there is a gentle hum of activity on the streets of Macclesfield that has been missing throughout months of lockdown.
Tables are being arranged along Market Place ready for al fresco diners, while on Chestergate the rattle of shop shutters being lifted and the shouts of greeting across the street pierce the spring air.
Inside Déjà Vu, Paul Shatwell and his partner Mark Goulding navigate their chaotic collection of vintage and antique furniture as they prepare to open up for the weekend.
The shop, which also offers house clearance services, has been a feature on Chestergate for 11 years.
Previous talk of Macclesfield’s regeneration has been viewed with scepticism, but the pair are full of optimism for the future of the town.
“There have been pockets doing well for years, but it feels like it’s all coming together,” says Mark.
“This street in particular, it’s just been amazing. We like to think we’re the ‘cool’ end of Macclesfield.”
They are not the only ones – Chestergate has seen entrepreneurs from Manchester attracted to the street’s quirky character.
Across the road from De Ja Vu, new store Flourish has arrived, adding another burst of colour to the street.
The florists is owned by Antony Cox and has sister stores in Manchester’s Northern Quarter and Didsbury.
Running the store today is Ian Butterworth, who says he has fallen in love with Macclesfield since the store opened in November.
“It’s got that market feel, a really different kind of vibe,” he says, perching on a stool amid the jungle of tendrils and leaves.
“It’s really up-and-coming – there’s loads of new businesses opening up, it’s exciting.”
Places like Flourish are bucking the trend according to the Centre for Retail Research. It says almost 190,000 jobs have been lost in the retail sector since March 2020.
The collapse of Debenhams and Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group saw big name stores disappear, along with their customers.
Given all this, opening a new store might seem like a crazy decision, but it was a no-brainer for Flourish.
Ian said: “We just saw the opportunity. It was tough setting up in a pandemic but it’s definitely been worth it.”
Flourish’s next-doorneighbours, the Monocle Deli, are delighted to see new arrivals.
Melanie Alexandrou has run the café for the last seven years and thinks lockdown has given independent traders like her a chance to refresh things.
She said: “We’ve finally done stuff that for ages we’ve been a bit wary of doing.
“But the last few months it’s felt like, ‘we’ve got nothing to lose really,’ so we’ve been doing more vegan food, we’ve redecorated a bit and we’re planning to get new signs up.
“I think the pandemic has made people think about what they really want to be doing, because it’s all so chaotic anyway.”
There is certainly a sense that for some people, Covid-19 has pushed them to take the leap and follow their passion.
Over in Bollington, Dan Hardman and his husband Mika Johnson are busy serving up oat milk lattes and chunky brownies, from a horsebox.
Mika said: “Dan lost his job due to Covid, I was on furlough as well a lot of the time, and we just thought why not?”
The couple initially set up a stall at Tytherington markets, but before long decided that their new coffee company, Yas Bean, was going to be a more longterm endeavour.
“I’d always wanted to do day hours and the stall was going so well,” says Mika.
“We just decided to throw everything at it.”
Now, the pair are planning to open their first shop on Buxton Road in Macclesfield.
Mika said: “It’s just such a great community, all the small local businesses are really what sold it to us and we’ve met so many lovely creative people.”
Coffee is always a popular purchase but the pandemic has also revealed opportunities in slightly more niche areas.
On Sunderland Street, husband-and-wife team Kate and Rob Boughton have opened up KR Health suites, which offers health professionals consulting and therapy rooms that can be booked for anything from a one-off consultation to a long-term contract.
Rob said: “It’s been a really tricky time for health professionals, but we’re hoping to make that easier.
“It’s really flexible, which is important with working patterns changing at the moment. The pandemic made us realise the demand was there, so it’s not been easy starting a business in lockdown but it was the right time.”
Hospitality has been hit hard by months of restrictions, recent data revealed almost 12,000 licensed venues shut for good in 2020.
For those who survived, such as Coffee Beans Café in the Grosvenor Centre, the next few weeks will be crucial.
“We’re take-away only at the moment,” says Dianne Dobbs, who runs the café.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to open back up properly soon.
“It’ll just be nice seeing people pop in for a bite to eat, see their friends.
“Lockdown was really difficult, but we’ve been ticking over since we reopened.”
Back on Chestergate, Mark from Déjà Vu is having a chinwag with Barbara and Donna Spivey.
The mother and daughter team have run Spivey’s Web on Chestergate for over 15 years and have lived in Macclesfield almost three times as long.
Donna says: “It’s a brilliant place. We just hope people start to explore their own town a bit more.
“So many people says that they didn’t know we were here and I hope lockdown has made people really value the high street.”
Across the road, someone is dusting down a sign that reads ‘help yourself to hand sanitiser.’
“It’s not back to normal, but it’s back to something.”