That's me, right after signing a 2 year renewal on our shop's lease!

One of the questions we get asked most frequently in the shop is, 'how's business?'. That's not a question I imagine you get asked very often if you work in a mass market chain store. I think the reason people always enquire is because there's an assumption that being a small, indpendent retailer in today's shopping environment is a tall order. And it is. It's really hard. Since opening almost two years ago, we've seen a lot of really good traders - both locally and nationally - go out of business, so we're incredibly grateful to everyone who's helped us on our journey so far. We've just about made it to the end of our initial lease, and it's with great pleasure that we can offically announce we have signed a renewal which will see PROVIDE stay in our current unit on Gibb Street until the end of August 2016.

Earlier this week when I was looking up at the sign that's hung outside the shop from day one, I noticed that it's picked up a bit of dirt over the last couple of years, and is also starting to rust. My automatic reaction was to look for a ladder and give the thing a decent clean, but for now I'll leave it as it is, as a reminder of the fact that we've managed to keep this adventure on the road for two years against a whole host of odds. Here's hoping we stay around long enough for it to get thoroughly tatty. A massive thank you to all PROVIDE's customers and supporters for getting us this far, and we hope you'll join us for another two years of adventures!