A Little Trip To Cambridge

Last weekend, I took a little trip to Cambridge to explore the delights of this city. The city centre itself is beautiful with the historic University taking pride of place, a quaint market in the town square and the little intertwining cobbled streets filled with surprises. From fashion boutiques to old-fashioned carts selling Falafel, Cambridge hosts a variety of fantastic stores and restaurants all with a quintessential twist.

From adorable interior stores filled with sweet little gifts to make your home a home

To quirky fashion boutiques with rails of fabulous finds

From favourite high-street brands located in gorgeous historic buildings (making it that little bit more enticing!)

To witty window displays

From really great little cafes crammed with books and nostalgic bits & bobs

To retro sweet shops Willy Wonka style!

Cambridge is a host to a fantastic array of under stated retailers and restaurants hidden down the side streets and around little corners. A place well worth exploring. Best of all...you can top it off with one of the best hot chocolates around. Topped with cream and tons more chocolate of course. 

Transactional Story-Telling

The retail industry is ever-changing and recently there have been some emerging stores and retail concepts that are really pushing the boundaries and making shopping that little bit more exciting. HOORAH! Shoppers these days want an experience, something innovative and inspiring to stand out to them when they hit the high-street and encourage them to part with their hard-earned pennies. So it's great to see a fresh, new take on shopping with the 'start-up store' idea that is sweeping the streets of New York City.
Retail consultant, Rachel Shechtman discreetly set up a start-up store on 1 December 2011 because she wanted to create transactional story-telling. The store is like a gallery showcasing brands yet like a store selling these products. The store will be completely re-invented every four to six weeks with a different theme at the center. The theme behind the first one was 'Beta' and featured a selection of fabulous products from five NYC start-ups:
1) Birchbox- a subscription retailer of beauty products

2) Quirky- an online community that selects products to invent based on user votes

3) BaubleBar- a jewelery range of original neckwear

4) Joor- an online professional matchmaker for designers and retailers

5) Artspace- an online marketplace for affordable pieces from contemporary artists.

Due to the huge success, Shechtman now plans to give the store a permanent name and logo, alongside launching a complimentary online shop so there will be a permanent identity for the start-up store. The store will next launch in February as a "Love" story and the story-telling will continue. Check it out at http://astartupstore.com/
I have to admit, I think this is a pretty great idea to put it simply. Making shopping more exciting as well as promoting and supporting independent brands is what the high-street needs in this gloomy economic climate. Lets see if the start-up store concept sweeps the UK.