Brand new furniture store has opened its doors in Henley-in-Arden

The owner of a popular and well established vintage business in Henley-In-Arden is branching out with a brand new venture.

Frankie Johns took over Henley Vintage back in 2019 and it has been a thriving independent business on the High Street drawing in many visitors to the town.

Now he is showing his commitment to Henley-in-Arden further by opening 99 Design - a new store on the High Street which is filled with new items to help furnish homes.

Plans for the new business have been in the pipeline for several months and the Coronavirus pandemic did not stop Frankie and his team from forging ahead with plans for the venture.

Like many others, they had to close the doors on Henley Vintage and Frankie used the time to get 99 Design up and running.

Frankie, who has been in the vintage trade for 20 years, said said that 99 Design came out of the fact that Henley Vintage was acquiring more and more new furniture.

"We wanted to keep Henley Vintage a pure vintage store and the fact was that we were getting more and more new pieces, so it made perfect sense to open up a new store," said Frankie.

"I took over Henley Vintage last year and the town has been a great home for us. In a time when businesses are closing because of the current climate, I am pleased to be bringing some positive news to the town and the High Street."

This is only just the beginning for Frankie's business ventures as workshops at the back of Henley Vintage are currently being transformed into an outlet for vintage clothing.

"We have so much space, so we are going to use it properly and have distinct areas for clothes and for furniture and make it an experience when people come to visit us.

"As we go forward, we hope that all our work at 99 Design and Henley Vintage will create jobs and we will need to take more staff on, but that is something down the line.

"We look forward to welcoming everything along to see the new store 99 Design and also back to Henley Vintage."

Businesses are being now supported by Stratford District Council to promote the safe reopening of the High Streets in response to Covid-19 through the Government's Reopening High Streets Safely Fund which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

European Regional Development Fund
The project has received £116, 036 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for ERDF. Established by the European Union ERDF funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding