Reversing the trend

A COUPLE HAVE reversed the trend of web trading from home by opening a store at a marina.

Steve Pym and his wife Lynette have traded their homewares for seven years on the internet but are to open a store at the new Mercia Marina Piazza building, believing it the right time, with Steve telling us:

Range of colours

“I had been involved in the manufacturing industry until 2010 but my wife had always been involved in retail. When we set up Black By Design we started off selling just black homeware items but we soon expanded the range of colours.

“We’ve been growing year on year and we decided that now was the time to open a store. It won’t be quite the same as obviously we are limited as to how much stock we can have in the shop, it will just be a snapshot, but if a customer sees something but wants it in a different colour then we can organise that. We also offer free delivery, which is unusual for a business of our size, or customers can order online and pick up the items from the shop.

“It’s quite unusual for a business to move from being online to opening a store and I can’t think of many businesses which have done this."

Fabulous place

Steve believes that the marina is a fabulous place and will be the perfect venue to showcase the brands that they sell. Being Scandi influenced he does not think people will find anything in this neck of the woods.

Joining Black By Design in the Piazza are lifestyle store Twigg Home and William Wheelwright Hair Salon, which have both opened, an Indian-style tapas restaurant, Bluebird Gallery and pharmaceutical firm Bionical.

Robert Neff, General Manager of Mercia Marina, welcomed Steve and Lynette to the Piazza, remarking:

“As a business who believes passionately in places and people, it is wonderful to see a successful internet retailer reversing the trend and opening a bricks and mortar store. At Mercia Marina we wholeheartedly welcome the unusual and trend-setting.”

Black By Design is set to open tomorrow, Saturday.