Upon entering Spark I visited Clucking Oinks, I asked them the following question “Have you felt that Spark has allowed you to grow your business in ways that it couldn’t have if you hadn’t joined the project and gone straight onto the high street?” in which he replied ‘No definitely not as the high street is dying, especially Coney street and Spark is new and its doing its own thing and is unique.’
Is this true? Is the High street dying?
After speaking to other establishments such as Heart of Wax and Munchies Cakeaway is wasn’t just the thought of the highstreet ‘dying’ but the fact that Spark gave them an opportunity to present their products in the first place. “The high street would have been unaffordable for us and especially as we are still in our third year of trade and it’s great to try fixed location retail.”- Heart of Wax
I fully agree with Munchies Cakeaway with the following comment ‘Spark focuses on small independent businesses and brings a certain demographic to us and allows us to find our consumers’. With feedback like this it is understandable why all the businesses would recommend similar projects in other cities.
The Spark project seems to be rejuvenating the Piccadilly area and is really managing to find its audience in York. It has been fantastic in helping small businesses find their feet and to gain traction in the world of retail. Hopefully there are more start-ups like this in the future that can help small independent businesses to grow.
