Welcome to Adam and Eve Street! Why was now the right time to move?
Like all my moves, it was a case of ‘the right place at the right time’. I heard that the previous occupants of number six were moving and I knew it was owned by the same landlord as our previous shop. We both agreed it would be a great move for us, so we did a deal on both premises. We have kept our old shop at One Sulley’s Yard as much needed storage for the online business. What benefits does the new shop have for you and your customers? The biggest benefit for me has to be that it is the dream little shop I’ve always wanted. It’s a beautiful space and fits the sweet shop theme with its Victorian-style frontage. The footfall is also much better as we were more hidden before. Rather than one of us just jumping out of the warehouse into the shop, the new shop has great access, is light and bright and has a dedicated team member the whole time it’s open. How was move day? It was great, actually! The fact that we weren’t moving the whole business, just the shop out of the warehouse, meant we had space and we didn’t have to move everything in one go. It also meant we could carry on trading and only close for five days over the final move. It meant we could really take our time and get the new shop as perfect as I wanted it. Tell us about your exciting opening day. It was absolutely incredible. When I woke up and saw the pouring rain, it put me in a foul mood as I was worried nobody would turn up. So much time, hard work and thought had gone into the opening, but Amritha, my better half and Randalls manager, picked me up and told me it was still all going to be fantastic. She wasn’t wrong. We had queues along the street for hours! We beat any other opening day by double the revenue. I set a dream figure for the day and we smashed it. What has life in your perfect sweetshop been so far? Amazing. When writing this, we are four weeks in and I am still totally overwhelmed by the response to the shop. People are travelling far and wide from all over the country to visit. We have also met so many locals who have become regulars. It’s a very busy little shop, but we opened at the right time (two months before Christmas) so it will be interesting to see what the quieter months bring… if we have any! I’m blown away by the support of Market Harborough, as always. Is there anything else on your wish list? Our only plan next is to transform our warehouse space. We want to remove a wall and take the old shop out totally to be able to hold more stock to cope with the demand. I’ve been lucky that I’ve always spotted the right thing at the right time. I’ll never say never to anything, as an entrepreneur I have so many ideas and I believe in investing in Market Harborough. So, watch this space! Randalls is open Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm, Saturday 10am – 4pm or you can order online via randallsuk.com
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