by Helen Cope | Oct 27, 2026 | Shop tips
Tucked inside an Edwardian church on a quiet stretch of Southsea, St Margaret’s Community Shop sells good-quality high street fashion for a pound or two. It isn’t a charity shop – and that’s the point. I spoke to the volunteers who run it to find out why it works....
by Helen Cope | Oct 27, 2026 | Research & writing
In February 1997 the Burton Group opened Style Union in Guildford’s Friary Centre – a trial store bringing its menswear brands together under one roof. I was its Brand Manager, the equivalent of visual merchandising manager. Nearly thirty years on, the idea looks...
by Helen Cope | Oct 27, 2026 | Research & writing
University shops that sell students’ work are some of the best enterprise classrooms there are – and some of the hardest to keep going. Between 2023 and 2025 I led a knowledge exchange between three of them: Re:So at Solent University, Not Just a Shop at the...
