Member Article

Re-launch for Warwickshire lifestyle store and brasserie

A lifestyle store and brasserie near Stratford-upon-Avon has been re-launched following a six-figure investment.

Bonds Lifestyle on Evesham Road has been transformed while it was closed during the pandemic to create a London-style shopping experience.

Owners Richard and Zoe Biggs have refurbished the upstairs of the 12,000 sq ft building with Scandinavian-style interiors to create a contemporary open-plan space.

The current café has been rebranded as Bonds Brasserie and styled for visitors to feel they are in a Mediterranean garden with faux flower walls, and a yurt, igloos and a pergola have been added to the site.

The £100,000 improvements have been made after Richard and Zoe received strategic advice and support from the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub.

Richard said Bonds Lifestyle now has a distinctive new look for its customers. He said: “The future of retail is experience-based and we have to be able to compete with internet shopping in different ways, so that has been our focus.

“We have been closed for seven of the last 12 months during the pandemic, which has been really difficult, but we have concentrated our energies on the business.

“The upstairs section was in need of some love and attention. We have put on a new roof, installed new electrics with specialist retail lighting and it no longer has different cubicles of concessions – it is now completely open plan.

“Our model is a mix of old and new, with an emphasis on the unique and the inspiring, from Scandinavian boho interiors to decorative vintage items. It looks like a London store with black ceilings and white floors so it has had a complete overhaul.

“We have refreshed our brasserie and we will be increasing the menu options in the next few weeks. Before the pandemic, it was often fully booked so we wanted to create an area where shoppers could pop in for coffee and cake which is why we have built a yurt. “We also have brand new toilets and they are like a London hotel with black ceilings and walls and cool lighting.”

Richard said the support of Jim Clark from the CWLEP Growth Hub had been invaluable. He added: “The Growth Hub has been utterly fantastic. Jim has been a rock from start to finish. He has been on the end of a phone at all times of the day and night because there have been some real lows in the last 12 months and he has always offered words of encouragement and advice which has helped me to think more clearly.

“His regular emails when the government has made announcements have been helpful since he has sent concise information which is just what we needed.”

Jim, account manager at the CWLEP Growth Hub, said the last 12 months had been tough for many businesses and particularly those in retail, leisure and hospitality.

“Bonds Lifestyle is well-known in Stratford-upon-Avon and Richard and Zoe have created a great business,” he said.

“To re-launch the business with all the cosmetic improvements that have been made is a good investment in their future to attract new and old customers.

“Throughout Covid-19, my job has been as much about listening to the worries of business owners as it has been about providing practical help and at the Growth Hub. We are here for companies whatever their circumstances.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .