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03

Sept 2021

Last Updated: 03/09/2021
Business
Business

Well known Harrogate clothing retailer moves to new premises

by Suzannah Rogerson

| 03 Sept, 2021
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Paul Lown has run clothing stores in Harrogate for 40 years, including Leopard. His most recent venture, Prey Four, has reopened in a new location on Swan Road.

paul-lown
Paul Lown

One of Harrogate's best known clothing retailers, Paul Lown, has just relocated his latest store to Swan Road.

Prey Four opened four years ago on Parliament Street but moved to its new site this week.

The shop sells a range of women's and men's clothing and also has an interiors area.

The move was prompted by his previous tenancy coming to an end and Mr Lown admitted he was apprehensive about heading further out of the town centre. But he hoped his committed client base will follow.

He said that after 40 years of trading in Harrogate he has men aged in their 40s coming into his shop who bought clothes off him in their teens.



Many local residents will remember Mr Lown from his time owning the clothing store Leopard.

Leopard was based in multiple Harrogate units during the 1980s and 1990s, including what is now McDonald's and the site on which Victoria Shopping Centre now stands.

After leaving Harrogate in the late 1990s for a short period, he returned and went into partnership to open Owl Store in Montpellier. But now he is focused on his own project, Prey Four.




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He said the past 18 months had "been like no-one could have predicted" in his long career and that he could now see the high street changing with more people heading to certain shops rather than to browse.

"People aren't wandering around aimlessly anymore; you know what you're getting and from where.
"People need to support the independents if they want them to stick around. Whatever they sell, people need to support them. Covid has really hurt all of us."