Shopping in Ipswich is to get a welcome boost over the next few months as new stores open in the town centre.
Fast-growing British fashion brand PEP&CO will be opening its third East Anglian shop in Sailmakers next Friday.
Illustrated gifts company Ohh Deer, founded by graduates Mark Callaby and Jamie Mitchell, is coming to Thoroughfare in April.
High end clothing brand Joules announced plans to overhaul the unit at 21-21a Buttermarket, formerly run by Hawkshead, in February.
Meanwhile, bosses at the Buttermarket shopping centre, which recently welcomed a number of new restaurants such as Wagamama, Prezzo and Byron Burgers, are preparing to launch the 12-screen Empire cinema next week.
PEP&CO will be housed inside Poundland, forming a shop-in-shop style experience, bosses say.
Managing director Adrian Mountford said he hopes the new Ipswich shop-in-shop will have a big impact on the town’s fashion conscious shoppers.
“By bringing PEP&CO to Poundland in Ipswich, we’re giving people access to the brand much more rapidly than we could on our own,” he said.
Ohh Deer is to mark its April opening with a special launch party hosted at the shop on May 6, from 2.30pm onwards.
Joint founder Mr Callaby, 31, is from Trimley and studied at Orwell High School before taking an art foundation course.
He said: “We initially started the business just to make a little bit of money for ourselves. But it has really taken off. When we started we found a gap in the greetings card market. It just went crazy from there. Now we employ more than 30 people and our first shop, in Loughborough, has been really well received. We want to grow and we just missed out on a shop in Cambridge then Jamie spotted this one in Ipswich. It has got real character.”
Ipswich Borough Council leader David Ellesmere said the new interest shows the town is on the up.
He said: “We are seeing a number of new shops and businesses taking an interest in Ipswich. This is because they can see we are a town on the up and these new outlets are of course likely to give the town a big boost.
“We’d like to welcome even more new businesses and let them know they can come and speak to us any time they like.”
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