Angels boutique - 25 years of style in the city

Angels is a much-loved independent fashion, jewellery and home boutique, trading in St Margaret’s St for 25 years.

It began as two fashion stores in Islington in 1985 before moving to Canterbury, after founder, Nick Pacoula got a tip off from his brother-in-law George (late owner of City Fish Bar) telling him that a great space had become free along the road.

Nick’s sisters were in business in Canterbury before him, so he had visited many times and was sure that Angels would work here. Nick jumped in – and they’ve been trading there ever since. Nick shares his story:

We began with selling high street fashion which was a great success. Gifts, fashion accessories and silver jewellery were added as time passed. When jewellery was introduced it became apparent that there was a big customer demand for body jewellery, which led us to introduce Body Piercing – and we have never looked back. Due to customer demand prom dresses were also introduced which have been a great seller.

I attended The London School of Fashion and went to work in the fashion industry, first in manufacture and later in design. Eventually I went into the retail business.

My wife Michelle and daughter Gem are the driving force behind customer relations and the day to day running of the shop, they are simply the best at what they do! They care about giving our clients the best experience possible. Our wonderful staff are all trained in the same ways.

The best thing about Canterbury is its heritage, the cathedral and the people who make this city what it is today.

I asked everyone at the shop who they would like to see walk into the shop – they agreed on Lady Ga Ga! Personally, I would have loved to have seen fashion icon Princess Diana.

Picking something for time capsule from our shop is very difficult to choose, but I guess a piece of modern body jewellery to reflect the trend and revival of this ancient body adornment dating back to ancient Egypt.

What’s our best seller? That’s too difficult to answer as our stock is continually changing, we never repeat anything when buying stock even if we sell out quickly, which is a great plus when you have repeat clients coming back and seeing new stock.

I would like to thank our clients who we have seen growing up and still see them to this day coming in with their own families all grown up, and thank the city as a whole for giving us so much in the time that we have been here.

Angels 29 St Margarets Street, CT1 2GT Tel: 01227 479200 ➜ angelscanterbury.com