A popular lifestyle store has seen a big increase in sales since opening in KINGLAND, Poole.
Lavender Moon, which offers a variety of country and western-inspired clothing as well as jewellery, crystals, and gifts, moved from Old Town Poole to its current location in April.
Monthly turnover has since jumped from £4,000 to £15,000.
Owner Bethany Holland believes its due to the community spirit of Poole’s busy independent heartland and the growing popularity of country and western fashion in the UK.
She said: “I felt both excited and daunted by the prospect of moving store.
“The shop in KINGLAND is triple the size of where I previously operated from, so the scale-up did feel quite a leap.
“However, being in an established shopping district in Poole with higher footfall has been transformative for my business.
“I’m so proud and relieved that just six months on, Lavender Moon is thriving like never before.
“I have been blown away by the response from the community.
“I’m hugely grateful for the support from my landlord, Legal & General, and its partners such as Nest, that have helped to make KINGLAND the vibrant and dynamic high street it is today.”
Now with increased retail space, Lavender Moon has become Dorset’s first official stockist of Ariat Western, a cowboy boot manufacturer.
Poole’s Kingland Crescent was regenerated in 2020 as part of an ambitious and unique initiative by Legal & General.
It has provided opportunities and financial support for some of the county’s most innovative entrepreneurs.
Legal & General was the first to create an initiative of this kind in the country and partnered with organisations such as Nest pensions to fund the regeneration project.
The Poole district is home to around 130,000 Nest members, making local people everyday investors into the KINGLAND regeneration scheme.
Beth said: “I only recently learnt of Nest’s involvement in the regeneration of KINGLAND and its partnership with Legal & General.
“I never considered that pensions invested in things like this, and as a business owner who has to pick a pension provider for my employees, it would have made me consider more carefully who I selected, if I did.
“It’s so great to understand more about how this project was delivered and knowing that the local community has contributed in a small way to making it happen, is just fantastic.”
Elizabeth Fernando, CIO of Nest, said: “Legal & General has done a great job delivering this ambitious, but immensely successful regeneration project, and it’s great knowing our members’ money is working hard like these small businesses.”