Holywell businesses explain why they set up shop during pandemic

Since the Welsh Government gave the green light for non-essential retailers to welcome back customers almost a month ago, there are more reasons than before to pop along to the high street.

We paid a visit to the town centre last Thursday – April 29 – to get a glance at what the ‘new normal’ looked like in Holywell.

The town centre is home to a range of varied independent business run by local residents as well as some well-known brands like Peacocks and Iceland.

There is also a community museum which opened on the High Street, preserving aspects of local history for all to come and see – when it is safe to do so.

It was also positive to see that a wide variety of shops were taking advantage of relaxed restrictions and opening back up for business as usual.

The past twelve months have been difficult for many established businesses – adapting to new ways of trading in order to survive including delivery services or click and collects for the first time ever.

However, some new arrivals took the plunge and have invested in a space on Holywell High Street.

Empty units are somewhat scarce on the street as they quickly get snapped up to offer something new on the High Street – with recent additions bringing a music shop and a Mexican takeaway to town.

Naomi Jones, owner of Gringo's Burrito Bar, explained why she decided to take over the former PoundBakery unit and bring something a little spicier to town.

She said: “We opened up here in Holywell towards the start of the April this year and the response has been really positive so far.

“We already run a catering business – Jasper’s Corporate Catering – that serves the Deeside, Wrexham and Chester areas doing buffets and things like that.

“We already did a small-scale taco and burrito bar through that business, so we knew what we were doing with this kind of cuisine, so this is just that on a bigger scale.”

Naomi added that she knew there was a clear gap in the market for their business in Holywell.

She said: “We’ve a Chinese across the road, a kebab shop two doors down but there isn’t anything in the area that’s outright Mexican.

"We looked at a few other places too, but Holywell bit the bill of what we were looking for perfectly.”

She teased that the business has ideas to expand its menu in the future but kept what that would include a closely guarded secret.

Also new to town is James Cave, owner of the Music Cave.

Formerly from Widnes, in Cheshire, he tells the Leader what helped him decide that Holywell was the place to set up his new shop.

He said: “It was always the plan for my wife and I, when she retired, to buy a cottage out in Wales so we have moved to a lovely place near Dyserth up in the mountains.

“I had a shop before this one over in Widnes so what I’ve essentially done is move that shop from there to Holywell. I’ve been in this kind of business for about 20 years now.”

Guitarist James mainly caters for fellow guitar players – selling instruments and accessories but also offering repair services too – but he says that if people give him enough notice then he can source most musical items.

“My suppliers do a full range of instruments so I can usually accommodate most requests given a bit of time.

"I’ve had a lady get in touch asking if I can get her a drum kit in time for next Christmas and a local councillor came in not too long back asking about the price of a harp on behalf of a resident,” he added.

The businessman chose Holywell over other locations he looked at due to the easy access of quick and nearby parking on the high street since it became de-pedestrianised back in late 2019.

He added: “A lot of our items, like amps, can be quite heavy so being able to have your car so close to the shop was the deciding factor for me over places I’d checked out in Flint and Rhyl.

“There’s also a lot of musical people around in Holywell and they welcomed me into the community with open arms. The closest place like my business before I set up was Mold, I think.”

Also new to town since the first lockdown in 2020 is a milkshake shop and an independent garden centre.

The town council has recently launched a voucher scheme to help support local businesses and encourage people to make use of what the high street has to offer.

These tokens will double the money you can spend in selected retailers – for example, a £5 voucher would allow you cover a £10 bill in participating retailers.

People can collect vouchers from the Town Council offices, on Bank Place near Tesco.

Holywell's market prior to the December lockdown. [Image: Chris Noble Photography]

The main road running through the shopping strip was closed off on our visit and replaced with the weekly open-air market.

There were about a dozen stalls operating on the day – from locally produced food and drink to unique homeware and handcrafted items.

Traders have fought in recent years to revive the town market – and it continues to grow and attract new stalls.

After it's biggest ever re-launch prior to the March 2020 lockdown, it is an ambition shared by many to one day see the whole high street filled with market vendors.

Holywell market’s operating times:

• Holywell Market is a weekly occurrence.

• The High Street is closed to traffic and stalls can open from 9am till 3pm every Thursday.

• Follow their Facebook page [HOLYWELL COMMUNITY MARKET] to see in advance who will be there.

One stall open for business was the eco-uniform scheme run by town mayor Cllr Lynda Carter.

She launched the stall in August 2019 after learning of a survey completed by the Department for Education that found parents were spending an average of £230 per pupil on uniforms – and that is without their PE kit.

The Holywell town councillor has since made regular use of the weekly market as a platform to help families but also draw people into the town centre when distributing the uniforms.

Reflecting on the full return of the market, she said: “It is all about taking those baby steps and building ourselves back up to the thriving market we had pre-COVID.

“It’s the same with our permanent shops out here too but what our market offers is that friendly service that the big companies like Amazon just can’t compete with. The market is more than just a shopping experience, it is a social one.”

Cllr Carter said that it is nice to sit back and see people venturing out again and stopping to enjoy a natter in the street with their friends and having those long overdue catch ups since lockdown gradually eases.

On the wider high street, she commented: “Since it has been allowed for non-essentials to return to trading, a lot of stalls came back on day one.

“I think that once the local cafés can open up their doors later this month and the high street is as close to being back to normal as it can be then I think we’ll see a real difference in our town centre.”