A STALYBRIDGE shop has moved on to bigger and better things by taking on new premises.
And those behind Aspinall’s Boutique believe then Covid-19 pandemic may have been a help in terms of awareness.
The women’s clothing firm has moved from Melbourne Street to a larger base on Corporation Street after two-and-a-half years – meaning it is able to stock almost double the amount of ranges.
A partnership with ForLuxeSake, which started off as a pop-up in the former home, is now a permanent fixture and arrangement with the added space.
Alex Aspinall, owner of Aspinall’s, told how timing conspired to make the move into what was a craft shop smoother.
She said: “The move only took a few days as the landlord had the premises ready to go. They restored the frontage to look how it used to and made us able to store things more easily. The move’s been relatively pain free.
“It’s a site I’d had my eye on for a while, about a year-and-a-half to be exact.
“As it worked out, Covid-19 delayed the completion of this until when the lease on the old premises expired, so the timing was perfect.
“It’s bigger, it’s better and the landlord let us do things like pick the flooring before we moved in and the pop-up we had is now permanent.
“We’d had such a good reaction to it and Emma does slightly different things to what we do – she does more going out wear, whereas we’re more casual.”
Like any business, Aspinall’s has lived through lockdowns, restrictions, advisories and the effect it has had on the retail sector.
But while a number of names disappear from high streets in cities, smaller towns like Stalybridge may feel an impact the other way.
Alex added: “The demand is there for us to move to bigger premises.
“And with Covid-19, a lot of people have moved to looking at what’s on their local high street a bit more, rather than go to big shopping centres.
“We’ve been busier since the Covid-19 pandemic started.”