Member Article

York entrepreneur turns to Kickstarter for Stone Roses-inspired merchandise venture

A York-based music entrepreneur has started a £20k Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to fund his music merchandise venture, inspired by the Stone Roses.

James Carr, a music promoter, launched his merchandise startup, A Girl Called Sally, after the Stone Roses announced their reformation. He had been working hard on a tour for another prolific Manchester artist, only to have their thunder stolen by the Roses.

The tour was pulled, but rather than rest on his laurels, this moment in musical history spurred him on to take a different career path.

Using his Facebook group, James decided to launch a website that sold music-themed merchandise. In its earliest inception, A Girl Called Sally primarily sold other peoples products and James was unsure as to whether it had longevity.

The business expanded so much that they decided to launch their own clothing label, designing original t-shirts.

Over the last year the brand has developed and the customer base has increased, so much so that retail space was needed.

After unsuccessful applications for funding from the bank the company decided to turn to Kickstarter to raise the amount required to fund their expansion.

With a large, loyal customer base and 80,000 Facebook group members to target, the Kickstarter campaign has gathered momentum fast. With the end date fast approaching, it is hoped that the target will be reached and the first A Girl Called Sally outlet will be launched in Low Ousegate, York.

James said: “We really feel like we are onto a winner with this way of raising capital”

“I genuinely believe that this kind of campaign will become more of the norm for smaller businesses of the future.”

On 25 October at 10pm, the Kickstarter campaign closes and James is confident that the company will reach their target of £20k which will enable A Girl Called Sally to move into their retail outlet.

James has big plans for the operations, with the space being used during the day as the retail store and at night serving the function of a warehouse and distribution centre to cope with demand from online orders.

The store and site will feature several unique functions and services and the store will even have its own in-house DJ.

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This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Michela Johnson .