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Diary of a Gift Shop by Cathy Frost owner of Loveone in Leeds
Diary of a gift shop
As the dust settles on the Jubilee celebrations, Ipswich is preparing to host more than 100 owl sculptures this summer, scattered around our town.
The Big Hoot is a free art trail brought to Ipswich by creative producers Wild in Art in partnership with Suffolk charity St Elizabeth Hospice, following the success of Pigs Gone Wild in 2016 and Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk in 2019.
Until September 3, the trail will see 50 Big Hoot owls individually designed by artists, and 65 Little Hoot owls decorated by local schools and groups, popping up in special locations. Each Big Hoot will be sponsored by a local business and auctioned to raise funds for the hospice at the end of the trail.
Loveone is hosting one of the Little Hoot owls. Our owl, Unity, was designed by the winner of a drawing competition created by Suffolk Fostering & Adoption and can be found front and centre in our window.
Cathy Frost, owner of Loveone gift shop in Ipswich, is looking forward to taking part in an ‘experiential’ event this summer
Footfall hopes
For me, as a small indie, this is a great opportunity to be part of a truly collaborative initiative, linking community, charity, business, Ipswich Borough Council and Ipswich Central. It also brings a chance to be part of a truly ‘experiential’ high street - an expression I hear a lot. The trail, maps and app are available to help signpost people, and to encourage visitors to explore the town, and residents to reconnect to their place. This summer we are expecting a rise in footfall throughout the town due to the trail, coming at a time when it will be much needed.
We were fortunate to play host to a Little Pig and a Little Elmer in the previous trails. On both occasions, we experienced a significant uplift in both footfall and income. Ipswich, like many locations, has suffered since the lockdown with the slow return of the office sector. This event may at least in the short term go some way to alleviate this shortfall.
Before the first trial (Pigs Go Wild) I was a little sceptical of the projections from Wild in Art of visitor numbers. Thankfully I was proved wrong, and on day one of the trail I met a visitor from York (160 miles from Ipswich), who travels around the country visiting all the trails: maybe we will see him again!
Our Little Pig was decorated with fingerprints in many colours by children at my kids’ primary school, so over the summer of 2016 I met pupils, parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, grandparents - many of whom had never been in my shop! And one afternoon I played host to an entire Brownie pack; things got very cosy, and I ended up in many photos that year.
Owl themed products
This year, having learned a lot from the previous trails, we are expanding our product offer to include lots of owl themed products. We have Jellycat plush owls, leather keyrings from Ark Colour design, greeting cards from Art Angels, and a beautiful card/ mask from East End Press. We have a very vibrant art/design community in Ipswich, and I will be selling prints from Marie Souls Illustration and Verena Arts; I’m sure this will increase as more artists find us.
The trail is being promoted on all social media platforms, which is another positive reason to be involved. It helps to raise our profile, enables us to help promote and fundraise for our local hospice, and encourages more people to visit us and our town.
Given the challenges facing us all this year, I welcome The Big Hoot to Ipswich this summer: something free for all the family to be involved with and a positive collaboration for the small indies. For more information go to www.thebighoot.co.uk.
