Monday 20 April 2015

Happy 1st Birthday

work by Kay Morgan, Jennifer Orme and Alice Shields

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This week will see the first birthday of Paper Plane.  Paper Plane is co-oporative shop founded and run by me and 6 other creatives [Alice Rolff, Alice Shields, Beth Buss, Fiona Clabon, Susie Hampshire and Tiphain Lecrivain], each also running our own design-based businesses.  The shop is situated on Gloucester Road in Bristol; said to be the longest street of independent traders in the whole of Europe.
 
Opening our doors on 24th April last year with a party, we were welcomed to the street by our neighbours, both residents and businesses alike.  Paper Plane is one of a number of gift shops, we were mindful of  not wanting to disrupt already established outlets, and graciously our counterparts quickly enveloped us into the community, with the emphasis being that having a collection of individually different gift shops makes this patch a destination for good quality hand-crafted gifts - people being more likely to journey to the area; with wider choice throughout all the shops.
 
As a shop we have taken part in many of the local events through the year, from running a fun paper plane making contest for  Mayfest; planting herbs and vegetables outside the shop for Bristol Green week and running paper snowflakes making sessions as part of the late night opening Christmas event on the street.
 
Beth Buss, Ruth Broadway, Alice Shields and Alice Rolff

 
We have also opened our doors to visiting artists; hosting beautiful exhibitions in our gallery room at the back of the space.  Over the year we have continued to gather a great core of guest makers’ work to the main shop, helping to keep the shopping experience for our customers interesting and varied.
 
We have also seen a change in the original line-up, with the arrival of ilustrator, Fiona Clabon to our family.  We each take a turn in the shop every week and get to meet our brilliant and supportive customers.  If you live nearby why not pop in and experience what ‘Gloucester Rd Central’ independent trading is all about!
 
Our shop at Christmas
 

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