A new shop will be opening its doors at Cabot Circus next month. The new store will specialise in selling “locally-made, unique gifts for the whole family”.
The shop – which will open on November 1 next door to the Apple store in Quakers Friars – will offer “Bristol-themed gifts, made by Bristol hands, for Bristol people who want to support small businesses this festive season”. The space will also double up as a Bristol Tourist Information Centre.
In a statement, PRIOR said: “This new shopping experience is brought to you by the team at PRIOR, Visit Bristol and Cabot Circus. Inside, you will find the work of over 35 local Bristol artists and hundreds of products that represent Bristol.
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“There will be a workshop area for festive craft sessions, and a Tourist Information section run by Visit Bristol for all your ‘What’s On In Bristol’ needs. Directly outside will be the immersive A Cracking Christmas Experience from Aardman, where you will solve clues to help Wallace get the Christmas-O-Matic running in the nick of time! For a pitstop, there is a café in both PRIOR and at the new Aardman experience.”
Beck, from Prior Shop said: “It’s been so tough for retail over the last few years. It’s so sad to see many small businesses closing or on the brink of shutting down, and we’re all exhausted from adapting and pivoting through Brexit, a pandemic, and the cost of living crisis. I think it’s incredibly important to stick together to make sure we collectively encourage customers to shop local and save our high streets.”
Beck also said that members of the public are passionate about supporting small businesses, adding: “We are finding that customers really want to shop with businesses that they feel connected to; they want to buy unique, one-of-a-kind, consciously-made gifts and want to support their neighbourhood shopkeepers, artists, and small businesses. This shop and campaign are just to signpost and guide people towards the wonderful Bristol independents—because what could be better than gifting something beautiful, unique, and supportive of the local economy?”
The statement added that Shop Bristol Independents is more than just a collection of local artists (and a directory of local shops) and that, for each £1 spent in an independent shop, 63p stays within the local economy,