17 Aug Team at Hobbycraft Southend-on-Sea celebrate new store opening with hundreds of customers queuing in excitement
Hobbycraft, the UK’s largest arts and crafts retailer, celebrated the opening of its new store at London Road Retail Park, Southend-on-Sea on Saturday with a host of crafting activities, product offers and goody bags for the first 100 customers who walked through the doors.
The store officially opened on Wednesday 10th August, whilst the grand store opening event took place on Saturday 13th August at 9.00am, attended by the Mayor of Southend-on-Sea, Councillor Kevin Robinson.
The new Hobbycraft store will offer customers the retailers’ extensive range of crafting products from art, baking, home craft, papercraft, knitting, sewing, kids’ crafts and model making, to accessories for weddings, celebrations and much more.
Hobbycraft Southend-on-Sea, based at London Road Retail Park, has created 14 new jobs in the local area. These roles have offered the Southend-on-Sea community the opportunity to work for the Best Big Company to work for in the UK, an accolade that Hobbycraft were awarded in May 2022 by Best Companies. The new Hobbycraft colleagues will be on hand to provide their crafting expertise, with some of the team including:
Cricut Expert, Sophie Thompson
Baking Expert, Kaz Bateman
Sewing Expert, Alex Evans
Art Expert, Molly Reynolds
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The London Road Southend-on-Sea store will offer customers a range of experiences and dedicated craft spaces in store, including:
Craft Workshops – Throughout the year, the store will host a variety of craft workshops, designed to give everyone the opportunity to master a new craft or refine a long-time favourite. The workshops are suitable for the whole family with specific kids’ sessions also available. Prices start at £5 and can be booked online via Hobbycraft ClassBento.
Custom Crafting Area – A dedicated space which introduces customers to the world of digital cutting with Cricut. Whether customers are looking to take their papercrafts to the next level or create personalised clothing and home décor, Cricut brings a realm of possibilities.
Haberdashery Area – a dedicated sewing area in store with a wide range of patterns, fabrics and trimmings, plus an extended range of sewing machines that customers can test drive before purchasing. This area is centred around an enlarged cutting table which doubles as a demonstration and consultation area for customers, and our expert colleagues will be on hand to support customers with all their sewing enquiries.
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Store Manager, Gina Ford comments: “Our new store is packed with crafting materials to suit all ages and abilities, and beginners through to experienced crafters are all welcome to pop into the store and chat to our creative colleagues. They’re always happy to share their knowledge, tips and tricks”
The safety and wellbeing of Hobbycraft’s colleagues, customers and communities remains a priority and the Southend-on-Sea store has the below guidelines in place:
Sanitisation points where customers are able to clean hands, baskets, and trolley handles
Throughout the store, there will be signage to encourage social distancing
Checkout colleagues are screened, appropriately spaced, and recommend contactless payments where possible
To find out more information please visit the new Hobbycraft store 85 London Road, London Road Retail Park, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS1 1PA, or visit the Hobbycraft website at www.hobbycraft.co.uk or tweet the store @Hobbycraft_SEOS. The new Southend-on-Sea store is open 9am-8pm Monday to Friday, 9am-7pm Saturday and 10.30am-4.30pm Sunday
