Online marketplace offers two £5,000 prizes for brand-new retailers
Indie retailers need all the support they can get and the Open With Faire scheme has already helped 500 set up shops across the UK – now the online marketplace has a competition where two winners will each receive £5,000 towards stocking their dream store.
Expanding its pioneering Open With Faire programme set up in 2022, the platform that connects indie retailers with 100,000 independent brands across the world is after two winners who will each get the cash to spend towards inventory on the marketplace to stock their stores ahead of opening day.
More than a third of British respondents told Faire earlier this year that they dream of running their own shop, but lack of financial support and fear of failure were the biggest barriers, so the platform responded by launching its first UK contest, entries having to be submitted by the 14 August closing day.
Designed to bolster the growth of the independent retail community and make opening a retail business easier than ever before, Open With Faire offers new shop owners up to £20,000 in credit to stock their shelves ahead of opening day, with no added interest or fees and net 60-day payment terms.
And greetings and gift store owner Kate Thompsett told PG Buzz how the scheme helped her move Happy & Glorious from the small town of Cranbrook to the city of Canterbury: “The growth in market size and the much larger physical space meant it would have proven a challenge to stock the shelves! Charlotte Broadbent, Faire’s leader in the UK, told me I’d be eligible for the scheme as a newly-opened shop, and I’m immensely grateful.”
The decision to move came after running Happy & Glorious, which specialises in British-made gifts, art and home with a small greeting card and stationery offer including Toasted Crumpet and local and handmade cards, for six years, and has now been in Canterbury for two years.
Kate added: “I’d worked in the independent retail industry from the age of 17, and knew it was the career for me. I set up online in 2012 while working elsewhere, and moved through gift fairs and pop-up shops until I took on a bricks-and-mortar store in late 2015.
“I love that every day is different, I enjoy talking to people. I like setting my own tasks for the day, being creative and working in a way that suits my brain. I’m excited to go to work every day!”
She explained that Faire – which is partnered with Autumn Fair this year, running at Birmingham’s NEC over 1-4 September, to bridge the gap between online and offline buying – allows her to filter British-made products, sort by price points and see a brand’s bestsellers quickly, saving her time and money.
Open With Faire competition entrants need to complete the application by 14 August, and sign up to buy on Faire, applying for the extended payment terms for the entry to count – but you don’t actually have use the scheme. Full terms and conditions are available here.
The four judges picking the winners, who will be announced on 28 August, are British Independent Retailers’ Association ceo Andrew Goodacre, Lone Design Club founder Rebecca Morter, Faire’s Charlotte Broadbent, and Wilfred Emmanuel Jones, who founded The Black Farmer brand and utilised £15,000 through Open With Faire to launch and stock his first bricks-and-mortar shop in Brixton last year.
“Anyone who has tried to launch a small business knows how hard it is to access finance,” Wilfred said. “Unless you have the luxury of self-funding, which most people don’t, it’s incredibly difficult to get traditional lenders behind you.
“Open With Faire played a huge role in the launch of my first store, it alleviated so many of the financial pressures and risks. Since opening, the response from consumers has been incredible – so much so, we’re opening a second store later this year in White City.”
Andrew Goodacre added: “Retailing on High Streets needs new ideas, new ways of working if it is to continue to be relevant to shoppers. I say well done to Faire and I’m delighted to be a judge and part of such a positive initiative.”
Faire’s chief product officer Ami Vora said the scheme is an extension of the core business model by providing access to the inventory retailers need to get started: “We’re not just offering financial support, we’re investing in the dreams and ambitions of future business owners. We are all about levelling the playing field for customers and making opening a retail business as seamless as possible.”
