Adventures in retail

Isn't it funny how sometimes you're in the right place at exactly the right time?

Sometime back in May, I detoured on my way home from somewhere into the Northampton Antiques Centre, just for a nosey round. The centre has always been a bit like Steptoes Yard, full of architectural salvage and dusty old things, but worth a walk round.

I was stunned by the change in the place. In the few months since I'd last been there, it had been completely transformed, with new management, new sellers, new stock and a totally new style and feel. It was exactly the kind of place I'd been hoping to find to take shop space in, and within minutes of arriving I'd tracked down the new manager - Joe - and secured the last space in The Attic, which had been cleared of all the dusty old stock and cleaned up with fresh white walls and 3m x 3m shop spaces!

I started to move in on 27th May, and added shelves storage units, lighting, a huge mirrorball (of course!) over the middle of my space, then moved the stock in over the weekend. I was ready to go by the time the centre opened on 2nd June and it's going really well, so far (phew!).