Following their incredibly successful Pop Up Shop last summer, The Guild (Dumfries) CIC are thrilled to announce that they have once again secured a pop-up shop in Dumfries Town Centre. Throwing open the doors this Saturday 28th November until Christmas Eve, The Guild are to take over the former Monsoon store in The Loreburne Centre and turn it into a festive wonderland of desirable gifts produced by a handpicked and carefully curated collective of over 70 talented makers, creatives and producers from our region and beyond.
Director, Leah Halliday says, “Last summer we were overwhelmed by the positive response we received when we threw open the doors at our very first Pop Up Shop in August. This time it’s going to be bigger and better than ever! We can’t WAIT to celebrate and champion our creative community. We know that the festive period this year is going to be even more important to makers & creatives and we want to encourage people to shop small and support local businesses that live and work in our region.”
The Guild Festive Pop Up will run for 4 weeks and will be the perfect place to get all your Christmas gifts under one roof, supporting independent businesses while you’re at it. It will be a one stop shop for all things beautiful, unusual and handmade. A place where customers can safely purchase covetable products they might not find elsewhere in the town, happy in the knowledge that you are buying directly from local makers and supporting the social enterprise.
Safe social distancing measures and sanitising procedures will be in place and The Guild will be monitoring the Scottish Government Covid-19 guidance closely to ensure the safety of customers and their volunteer staff.
Director, Kirsten Scott adds, “Christmas shopping will be a bit different this year and it is a tough climate for retailers. We understand that not everyone will feel comfortable about coming into town to shop, so this time we’ll also be offering an online directory and marketplace via our website, so customers can choose to “Click and Collect” or have items delivered directly. We feel that by offering an online option, we can be inclusive and give everyone the opportunity to shop small and shop local this Christmas.
The Loreburne Shopping Centre management team were only too happy to offer The Guild a pop up shop space once again. Over the two-weeks of their last Pop Up Shop in August 2019, between 500-1000 visitors shopped there every day, with many of the makers having to restock time and again due to the huge demand for their desirable products. The Guild astounded to find that shop sales generated over £15,000.00 for their makers in only 14 days!
Director, Natalie Farrell says, “We are delighted to have secured a pop-up shop in The Loreburne Centre and we want to thank them for their support. This property occupies a prime location within the town centre and is close to the entrance of the Loreburne Shopping Centre via the bus terminus so lots of potential customers will pass the shopfront. The shopping centre has many stores including JD Sports, Superdrug, Specsavers, Poundland, Claire’s Accessories and The Works, so we have lots of neighbouring shops nearby for customers to explore. We want to encourage our community to support and use our local high street this Festive period.”
The Guild Festive Pop Up is no ordinary shop though. As a social enterprise any profit generated from this project, after covering running costs and overheads, will be reinvested in the business and towards its social aims. The Guild hopes to create a positive social impact and develop the types of facilities, projects, events, activities and opportunities the local community and town needs.
Visit their website for more details https://www.theguilddumfries.org/pages/the-guild-festive-pop-up-shop
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