Popular Bristol Fancy Dress Shop Closing Down Next Month

Fancy-dress

A popular independent Fancy Dress shop in the Gloucester Road area of Bristol is to close down in the next few weeks, and move their business to an online only offering.

Fancy Dress Fanatics, which opened in 2013, has been a fantastic success, but due to changing circumstances of the owners, and the changing highstreets, the owners have taken the decision to close down its store in Bristol and move to selling online from a different location after a few months break.

The shop will be selling off a large portion of its stock, including costumes and accessories, including their fantastic range of theatrical quality hire costumes.

“It’s really breaking our hearts to close the shop down, and we’ll dearly miss the lovely locals and customers we got to know over the last three years” says Fran Minifie, owner of the business. “We worked so very hard on this business. It’s been so much fun and we’re so proud of what we achieved over the three years we’ve been trading in the area. Especially in the current retail climate, where you are competing against the massive migration by consumers to buy online, and huge chains and supermarkets who can sell at prices small independent businesses can only dream of. We’ll be shutting the doors with a very heavy heart. There will definitely be tears, but we’re looking forward to what the future of the business holds”

 The couple, who started the business in 2013, are expecting their first baby in October, and managing the business as it is will not be possible. “We currently sell costumes and fancy dress accessories in the shop, on a website and on ebay and amazon” says Fran. “When you own your own business, maternity cover isn’t exactly straight forward. So we’ve taken the tough decision to condense the business to something that we feel will be more manageable as we start our family”.

Something the couple also took into account was the changing face of the high street, which over the last few years has seen many retail shops closing down due to changing shopping habits, as well as the increasing issues with parking in the Gloucester Road area, pushing shoppers elsewhere. “A huge amount of people now buy online instead of on the highstreet, and we definitely see this as the case in our shop too” says Fran. “We’ve seen retail shops being replaced with businesses that don’t compete as much with online or out of town shopping centres that don’t face the parking issues we do, such as bars, cafes, hairdressers and barbers, which are still doing really well. While making this decision we’ve had to take that into account. In order to compete in the current climate, you do have to dedicate so much time and effort to your business, and it’s unlikely to be time that we will have for the coming year. 

Clearance reductions on costumes and fancy dress accessories have already started, with many items being less than half price, and will continue until the shop closes, which will most likely be towards the end of September, so pop in quickly to grab yourself a bargain!

For more information on the business and how to find us, please visit our website at www.fancydressfanatics.co.uk or our facebook page for the latest updates www.facebook.com/fancydressfanatics

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