Claire Shave, who is the store manager of women's fashion brand Jigsaw, writes for the Stray Ferret about the changing face of James Street in Harrogate. 

I moved to Harrogate nine years ago from Huddersfield. Initially it was supposed to be a temporary move, into my dad’s spare room. I was 45 years old, had left a family business and my husband. It was a life changing moment.

My Dad took me into town for a boozy lunch and I was blown away by just how beautiful Harrogate was. The cocktails at The Blues Bar were pretty fabulous too!

Cheered up, I dropped my CV off up and down James Street and hoped to get a job, but it wasn’t to be and instead I picked up work in Leeds. 

But Harrogate was for me and, after I found a small apartment in town, I decided I’d found home. I then got approached for a full-time position at Jigsaw almost a year later and never looked back.

I’ve been the Store Manager of Jigsaw now for more than 8 years and James Street is such a fabulous shopping destination.

Despite a very challenging retail climate, our store has one of the highest footfalls in the company.

Today there is an eclectic mix of high-end fashion brands and independents, coffee shops, art galleries, beauty and fragrance stores, a wonderful department store - to name a few.

James Street has always been a special place. It is like a little mini London - but you can park right on it. Our regular customers love that - they’ll pop an hour or two on the meter and nip up and down shopping their favourite shops.

Over the past few years, many stores have come and gone on James Street. This is all part of the great cycle of a retail street’s life.

Yes, we may be grieving the loss of LK Bennett and Russell and Bromley, but we are also making some serious gains for the town.

ME+EM opened last year and we have noticed how it has brought in customers here from further afield, which is great. Nobody’s Child is now open and I hear on the James Street gossip grape-vine that other very tasty brands like Gail's are snapping up the newly emptied units. 

Personally, I’d love to see an Anthropologie and a Cos arrive in Harrogate.

James Street has successfully avoided a downward spiral and instead is constantly reinventing itself as a high-end destination.

We find it’s very lively throughout the week - with our fabulous regular clients and new faces arriving on holiday, checking into hotels nearby and shopping to their hearts content. We often get customers booking styling appointments from big cities across the north, as they love coming to Harrogate for an overnight stay to shop and dine out.

Bring on the competition, I say, it helps attract more people and boost our sales.

Jigsaw is probably now one of James Street's longest standing stores, like Hoopers. I am proud of that. If you’ve noticed, the store has just had the front done up.

Like our beautiful clothes, I see a bright future for the town centre.