Another Leek trader has relocated following the temporary closure of the town’s butter and trestle markets.
Thread Bear, which sells handmade baby and children’s attire and toys, has found a new home on St Edward Street after six years of trading on the town’s markets.
Owner Michele Reeves has signed a ten-year lease on the property and plans to make it a permanent base for her business.
Work on Leek’s indoor market halls – part of a town centre regeneration project being carried out thanks to £17 million from the Government’s Levelling Up fund – started last month and is expected to be completed by the autumn.
Many of the indoor market traders continue to operate on the outdoor markets, from other venues or online.
Michele said: “Trading outside wasn’t an option for me and I really didn’t want to take my business online.
“I have put a lot of work into refurbishing the shop, so I am really pleased to have had such a good response. The opening weekend was amazing.”
Michele has been knitting since her grandmother taught her how to do it at the age of nine and she now specialises in clothing for babies up the age of one, dressmaking for children up to the age of five and amigurumi – a type of crochet – toys.
She started doing makers markets before setting up on the trestle market in 2018 and moving to the butter market in October the following year.
Most items in her shop are made by her, but her mum helps with some of the crocheting, despite being in her 90s.
Michele added: “People know me in Leek and I have a good reputation in the town so I’m pleased to be staying.
“I don’t take orders for clothing, but all my items are bespoke so no two children will end up wearing the same thing.”
Michele’s shop is currently open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, as she works other days as a medical secretary at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.
As well as selling her work in the shop, Michele donates some of her creations to the hospital’s neonatal unit and supports the hospital charity’s fundraising efforts for children with cancer.
