The Allotment Shop

Consumers are growing their own food and the UK style allotment, a piece of land in a community dedicated to food production, is booming again. It was obvious that one opportunity was to open “The Allotment Shop” as a serious retail venture and the first one opened in late October in Kingswinford, West Midlands in the UK. The store has a 1940’s feel to it, promoting the nostalgia feel. The founder is Michelle Fox and her comment on the store is “It’s a proper corner shop, so you get the feeling you used to get with the old hardware stores. It is a bit like “Open All Hours” (the UK TV comic sitcom). The promotional campaign is entitled “Rationing is back”. This is an excellent example of a new retailer identifying the opportunities in the marketplace and introducing a concept that meets those needs.