A tailor has taken advantage of rising vacancy rates by taking on a three month lease for the rock bottom price of £1.
Norton & Townsend, founded in 1992 and offering made-to-measure suits, shirts and shoes, opened the pop-up shop in the Great Western Arcade in Birmingham’s city centre.
The retailer approached the landlord of the shop with the innovative £1 deal. A spokesman said that the landlord of the Great Western Arcade store would rather have a tenant in the unit than it lie empty.
Norton & Townsend will consider the store permanently if successful. It also wants to open more than a dozen pop-up shops as a way to market its brand.
It already has permanent shops in London’s Spitalfields and Bradford’s Salts Mill, and is now eyeing locations such as Manchester, Newcastle, Plymouth and Cardiff to open more stores on £1 three-month leases. It said it has received several offers for £1 deals already.
Norton & Townsend chief executive Austen Pickles said: “The malaise in the high street opens up a whole new dimension – enabling us to raise the profile of our brand and giving us the opportunity to appeal to a hugely diverse demographic.
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