SHOP LOCAL
CHAPLETOWN
HAPPY HARE
Happy Hare is a fabric shop in Chapeltown which sells handmade craft items and fabric for dressmaking and patchwork. The shop is owned by Lisa Birkett, who took it over after a stressful job working long hours all over the country left her wondering if she could change career and follow her passion for crafts. Lisa said: “It’s important to me to support other independent businesses, so our dressmaking patterns are from small indie companies. We also stock wool which is reared, sheared and spun in the UK. “The first thing I learnt was opening a fabric shop costs a lot more than you think it’s going to! It’s been a particularly tough couple of years, as it has for everyone. We’re lucky in that a lot of
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people want to see and feel the fabric before they buy, which will hopefully mean that there is a future for bricks and mortar fabric businesses. “High streets have just become so homogenous and little independent businesses are one thing which helps to make a street unique. You’ll usually find the owner working there, and there is generally a real focus on customer service because the success of that business is what pays the mortgage. “Chapeltown has some great independent businesses, which are well worth a look. We are also in the process of writing a treasure hunt, which will be a trail that families can follow, taking them all around the area and we hope this will attract more people to the high street here.”
unLTDBUSINESS.COM
