And while in North Shields… another Shopjacket

Shopjacket in Howard Street, North Shields (18 Jun 2010)

While checking out North Shield’s Wooly Minded, I also paid a visit to the North East’s third Shopjacket, in nearby Howard Street, following on from those in Whitley Bay and Barnard Castle. However, with future Shopjacket projects in the pipeline for London and overseas, this might be the last one that I capture for a while!

North Shields Shopjacket (18 Jun 2010)

Taking the form of a hairdressers, the concept in North Shields is the same as before, with high-quality graphic design giving the illusion of a real shop. In a slight change from previously, however, the North Shields Shopjacket was installed in the space of a couple of hours, with observers – including a camera crew from the Russian TV channel RTR – invited to go along and watch the whole process.

Handily, you can watch a timelapse of the installation on YouTube.

Meanwhile, my innocent remark that “it might not be long before Barnard Castle’s fake bakers is replaced by a proper one” seems to have been eerily prescient. I understand that a North East-based bakers is due to sign for the unit any time now, suggesting that the Shopjacket concept can indeed play a part in inspiring real businesses to take over the empty units that it showcases.

Shopjacket in Barnard Castle... but maybe not for much longer (5 June 2010)

Finally, just a quick word to mark the fact that my earlier post about Card Factory coming to Newcastle was my 100th blog post since Soult’s Retail View launched almost a year ago. In that time the blog has logged 47,812 views, with the highest number – 945 – coming on Tuesday 16 February, the opening day of Eldon Square’s extension.

Needless to say, I’d like to thank all of you who have read, commented on, talked about, contributed to, and given feedback on this blog to date. It’s greatly appreciated, and I’m looking forward to the next 100 posts and beyond!