Nikki Wilfred, founder of Nicolita's Gem's, recently tested her first physical store in the Camden Collective shop share. We caught up with Nikki to find out more about setting up shop within a shared space...
What’s the story behind Nicolita’s Gems?
It began simply because I love jewellery. I bought a few pieces at a wholesaler, sent emails to friends with photos and there was a huge amount of interest. A friend invited me to sell at her daughter's school fete one year, which I did as a favour, and almost sold out of stock!
I decided to start my first pop up shop as part of a shop share in Camden Collective because I was getting tired of travelling to different venues for craft fairs and liked the thought of being set up in one place. My daughter explained me how shop shares could work, that’s when I came across Appear Here.
What appealed to you about this model?
The beauty of shop shares is that the shop and its clientele is already established so you don’t need to spend time building it up yourself. You have the flexibility to move around a lot more, one week you can be in Camden, the next week in East London...and so on.
How did you go about finding a space?
The process was extremely quick! I submitted my details and within a couple of days I had two options on the table. I went to view a shop in Camden and a few days later I was already displaying my jewellery!
What was your favourite moment?
The reaction from other people when I told them I had a pop-up shop in Camden... it was priceless! They were so impressed!
If you could do it again, what would you do differently?
I think I would have more of a presence in the store. Nhuc, who runs the space at Camden Collective, was happy to look after everything - which was fine, but next time I will spend at least 4 days a week manning the space and will definitely be there at weekends. I think it helps to know who your clientele is and to get to know them and obviously I'll have more of a vested interested to sell the product.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone else launching a shop share?
Just do it! And if it doesn't work in one area, try somewhere else. It's a brilliant concept.... you have a shop without the hassle of having any overheads to contend with.
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