A shop owner on Lark Lane said business is booming despite the cost of living crisis but admitted it can be exhausting.
In April last year, Kate Graham, 29, moved from her vintage clothing stall in Red Brick Market to her own shop The Retro Room. She was viewing a flat on The Lane, which she now lives in, and walked past a woman painting a building and she saw potential.
Kate said: “She [the owner] had 100 applicants, but she wanted retail, she didn’t want food, and there were only four retail applicants, and she gave it to me. That was two years ago, I had to wait a year for the shop to be done because it was literally falling down when she inherited it.”
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The shop is aptly named ‘The Retro Room’ and is a sustainable vintage clothing store which sells quirky, eccentric accessories.
Walking down the idyllic Lark Lane, it is instantly recognisable, with its brightly coloured storefront, fitting in well alongside Freida Mo’s further down, which also sells vintage.
Kate originally had a dog grooming business in Ormskirk, after getting a grant from The Prince’s Trust. She ran this for a year or two, but then developed Crohn’s disease and had to close the business.
She said: “When I was sick, my friend had a vintage clothing shop, and I started making crystal jewellery and selling it in her shop. She was like ‘I’m gonna close the shop, can’t be bothered with it.’ And I loved vintage anyway, I bought a load of vintage off her, and then I just started selling it online.”
After an operation, she still had the lease for her own shop, an indoor market stall in Ormskirk, and opened it back up selling vintage clothes and jewellery, turning it around within a few months.
She added: “I couldn’t do a physical job cause I was still quite poorly, I just did vintage clothing and jewellery and just absolutely loved it, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is what I wanna do’.”
She then moved to Red Brick Market when the lease ended in Ormskirk and was there for five years. She moved to Liverpool during the pandemic and bought her current flat on Lark Lane. She opened the shop on April 10 last year.
Many businesses are struggling to stay open in the cost-of-living crisis, but due to the area’s popularity among locals and tourists alike, the shop has seen a generous amount of customers.
She said: “It’s dead busy, everyone’s so sound. I’m a queer owned business, everyone that works here is queer. And I think it’s also really welcoming around here and it’s nice to have a safe space for them and for us. It’s for everyone, but it’s nice. Around here people are a bit more open.”
She also said, however, that she takes work home with her, and this can become tiring.
The business owner said: “I’m f****** exhausted. I don’t feel like you ever stop working, and I don’t want to. You battle with yourself to not feel like you’ve done enough or that you need to do more, there’s that last thing you need to do.
“Even though I feel like I’m just sitting there at home on my phone, I’m still working 24 hours a day, especially with a chronic illness. It’s quite hard.”
Although the shop is thriving at the moment, Kate still has her doubts sometimes.
She said: “I’m lucky, the footfall’s good down here and it’s quite busy, but there’s always that worry, like, ‘What if I can’t pay my bills this month or pay my rent?’ To be fair, I’ve done really well, and I’ve shocked myself every month at how well we’ve done.”
She has also hired two members of staff in the past year, and added: “Obviously, they’re both part time, but it’s just mad. I know it’s a cost of living crisis, but, also, people still need to treat themselves, and it’s nice that people still do.”
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