Owner invests in Stone shop expansion by moving into former bank

A shop in Stone is set to move to bigger premises in a few months as work goes ahead to prepare the space.

The Artisan Boutique on Radford Street will take over the former Barclays bank on the High Street which shut in July 2021.

The old shop will close in March before the new much larger space is opened in April, though people can still order and collect items in between.

Owner Susan Hughes, pictured above, is excited about the move and has already been working on the shop for over a month: “I got the keys on December 17 and things are moving at a pace with us looking to open down there on April 2 if everything goes to plan.”

“I am moving The Artisan Boutique down there and we are opening a coffee shop alongside this which will be called The Artisan Kitchen.”

So the new space will not only see the business’ stock increase but also expand to include a coffee shop that will seat around 30 customers - and Susan is also hoping to get a pavement license to add outdoor seating.

Speaking about the move she added: “We intend one side of the downstairs to be yarn, fabric, haberdashery, artificial floristry and crafts with a table for a daily craft taster session to be held.

“We will of course re-launch our wide variety workshops and and knit and natter/sewing groups and we are hoping to have pop-up artisan stalls within the space on a regular basis, with Stone artist Emma Joustra already wanting to come on board.

“The upstairs space at present is to be confirmed for definite. I have plans but am not willing to announce these yet until they are a definite.

“But what I can confirm is there will be beauty therapy in one of the rooms. We also have a small room that we will rent out on an ad-hoc basis that will be suitable for counselling, small office space and of course we will continue to door Tarot/Mediumship session in this space.

“And I have also had interest from a lady wanting to do baby yoga in the larger space.”

There is even talk of filling the area out back with garden centre style products, and it’s also where you’ll be able to find the relocated garden boutique from Radford Street as well as customer parking.

For Susan the move is a risk, but one she feels passionate about: “Another point I would like to get across is I am able to do this because of personal investment, not because The Artisan Boutique is doing really well.

“In fact, we are still recovering from the damage Covid-19 has caused all businesses and are very lucky to still be open.

“But I have faith in the people of Stone and the surrounding areas to support our local businesses to bounce back which is why I have been willing to take this risk.”

For more information and to keep up to date on the move visit the Artisan Boutique Facebook page.