Thank you for your interest in this story
To continue reading this article, subscribe to the Stray Ferret for as little as £1 a week
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
25
Aug
Harrogate shop owners launch initiative to raise awareness
The owners of a prestigious row of shops in Harrogate have launched their latest initiative to increase awareness of what they offer.
Businesses on Prince Albert Row have a decades-long history of working together to ensure they are not overlooked by visitors and locals shopping in the town centre.
Past activity has included producing a glossy leaflet and sprucing up the street for a visit to Woods Fine Linens by Anne, Princess Royal.
Even the name Prince Albert Row was another initiative designed to present the businesses together as a destination in their own right. It was suggested by the late Harrogate historian Malcolm Neesam.
Now the shops, located on Station Parade opposite the Everyman cinema and Library Gardens, have launched a new website in their continued efforts to become a focus for shoppers.
William Woods, whose family business has been based in Harrogate since 1895, is one of those driving the collaboration. He said:
Prince Albert Row just goes to show what you can do when you work together, and our new website is the culmination of this.
Describing the row as "steeped in history and elegance”, the new website says it is the “destination of choice” for the rich, famous and even royalty. It gives clear details of its location in relation to the rest of the town centre, and showcases each of the businesses.
Shops include Rigby & Peller, Helen James Flowers, Woods Fine Linen, Stephen Neal interiors, Bang & Olufsen, West Row Hairdressing and The Phoenix Lounge.
They are housed in a Grade II listed building that features one of the last remaining cast iron verandas in Harrogate, as well as the Old Craven Dairy, now called The Factory Building.
Mr Woods said the collaboration between businesses on Prince Albert Row began 30 years ago. The Harrogate Civic Society, which he and Mr Neesam helped found in 1971, along with the council, landlords and tenants joined together to improve its appearance.
The initial renovation included painting the shops in the same colours and replacing concrete under the canopies with Yorkshire stone. It was part of an enhancement scheme that Mr Neesam had put forward with the intention of rolling it out to other streets, but Prince Albert Row was the only one that came to fruition.
0