New fashion department opens at Beckworth Emporium in Northamptonshire

Beckworth Emporium, near Mears Ashby, was taken over by Blue Diamond last year.

The new bosses said they would be adding a fashion department and it has now opened its doors, with special guests invited to take a look around last night before it officially opened to the public today (Wednesday).

It features Blue Diamonds’ own in-house brand 'Cerulean,' which is exclusive to them and only available in-store.

Danielle Walker, fashion retail manager at Beckworth, is really excited about opening the new fashion offering and said: “We felt there was nothing like this for customers in the area.”

After stocking some Cerulean accessories last September and receiving ‘amazing’ feedback, they started work on creating a full fashion department.

Other Blue Diamond garden centres do have fashion departments like this, but the Beckworth Emporium one is a new look concept in a large area of the centre which used to stock garden and seasonal ranges.

It has a fitting room, its own cash desk and a ‘boutique’ style to it which bosses hope will give customers a great shopping experience in one place.

Danielle said: “It looks completely different, it’s changed so much.

"We have opened it up massively and added the cash desk in.

"We are almost like a concession, but even then we are part of Beckworth.”

The new department is currently stocking the summer range, but it won’t be long until the autumn range comes in around August/September time.

It has created eight new jobs with Danielle heading up the team which she hopes to add to in the future, as well as needing seasonal staff at Christmas.

Danielle said: “We are really proud of ourselves.

"We have got a really good team here and it’s a really nice place to visit.”

The new fashion department will share the same opening times as Beckworth Emporium and will add to the centre’s current offering, including the restaurant, food hall, garden centre, home and gifts section and outdoor living area.

Blue Diamond has more than 40 garden centres across the UK, but the nearest centres with a fashion department like this are about an hour’s drive away.