The Bead Shop Owner, Hana Glover
Despite all the doom and gloom around the high street, local independent business The Bead Shop, based on Market Street, is about to celebrate its 20th birthday on the 20th of January 2020.
By tapping into retail trends and collaborating with other independent businesses, owner Hana Glover has successfully navigated the changing face of retail, building a business that continues to thrive.
Hana started The Bead Shop when she was just 18, fulfilling her dream of owning a shop with a tiny unit in Nottingham’s West End Arcade. Almost two decades on and two premises later, she has seen many changes, faced numerous challenges and learnt a lot. She believes that independent shops are the key to keeping the high street alive and that Nottingham is a great place for shopping. She said, “Recent research by Liberis shows that Nottingham is one of the top 3 UK cities for independent retail and I’m proud to be a part of that.
“It hasn’t all been plain sailing with the face of retail changing considerably over the last 20 years. We had to make redundancies when the recession hit and have added more services such as jewellery repair along with teaching a wider range of workshops,” but The Bead Shop has learnt to survive through adapting and diversifying and focusing on fantastic customer service. The most noticeable shift has been towards experiential retail, and the importance of collaborating with other indie businesses.
In 2018 Hana ran a successful crowd funding campaign through Kickstarter to renovate their workshop space allowing them to teach a greater range of craft and jewellery workshops.
The Bead Shop host a regular bead and craft club as well as running kids parties and teambuilding events which allow people to take time out of their busy schedules to spend time learning the therapeutic benefits of crafting.
Hana added, “I want to thank each and every customer that has shopped with us over the last 20 years. I love teaching people new techniques and helping people fix their treasured jewellery and without our customers’ support I wouldn’t be able to continue doing the job I love! ”
In 2010 she was named young manager of the year in the Nottinghamshire Star Awards and in 2019 she was listed as one of the top 100 female entrepreneurs in the UK. Her future plans are to help get Nottingham known as the best place in the country for independent retail. She has recently been key to organizing a Small Business Saturday Trail around independent shops and believes that by working together indie retailers can thrive. Hana says; “My main advice for other indies is to collaborate with other local businesses to grow your customer base and build a community.“
The Bead Shop’s 20th Birthday Party will be held on Friday 24th January 4pm-8pm. There will be cake and refreshments from local suppliers along with crafting demo’s and mini jewellery making workshops.
Customer testimonials
“The Bead Shop has been around for years and years…I used to go to buy embroidery thread for my friendship bracelets as a teenager! Now I am self-employed making my own creations and most of my supplies come from the Bead Shop. I have never ever once been disappointed! The stock is varied and plentiful and the staff are wonderful, very friendly and helpful. Its these things that keep me coming back and will continue to do so in the future.” Laura, Shop Customer, Facebook review
“I recently visited the Bead Shop in Nottingham and was very pleased to be served by extremely helpful young lady. I am very much a beginner at Jewellery making and she identified everything I needed to make some earrings.” Joanne; Shop Customer
