Amazon behind new pop-up shop opening soon in Sheffield

Clicks and Mortar is due to open at the old Maplin store on Pinstone Street, opposite the Peace Gardens, next month.

The shop is designed to give small businesses trading solely via the internet the chance to test out a physical presence on the high street, where customers can see their products in the flesh, without the hassle of setting it all up themselves.

It will house a number of different firms from various sectors, with an emphasis on local creators, over its six-week run.

There will also be free business workshops run in association with Business Sheffield, including digital training and accountancy masterclasses, to help small traders establish and grow their companies.

Similar shops have already opened their doors in Manchester, Cardiff and most recently Edinburgh, and they are due to pop up across the country.

The concept is the brainchild of the business support network Enterprise Nation and is sponsored by Amazon, the insurer Direct Line for Business and mobile payment firm Square.

Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation, said: “Over the past few years we’ve seen that thousands of small businesses want to start trading on the high street or in shopping centres but there are lots of points of friction which make it harder for them to do that.

“They have to find an empty shop, work out who the landlord is, figure out how to do the legal side of things and then kit out the shop, all of which can stop them taking that leap.

“We’re trying to create a friction free experience for them, so we find the shop, arrange the deal with the landlord and kit it out for them.

“They just rock up, plug in their product and start selling in a ready furnished place.”

Traders are asked to pay £150 a week each to cover the cost of business rates and utilities and to commit to stay for at least two weeks, with the line-up of businesses changing over the course of the six weeks.

The first Clicks and Mortar store opened in Manchester in June and Emma said they have proved a big hit so far with both traders and shoppers.

The full list of firms which will be based in Sheffield has yet to be decided, and it is not too late for traders to apply for a spot at the store, the opening date of which is also still to be confirmed.

Goods for sale at the Edinburgh pop-up range from locally inspired prints to jewellery and travel accessories and homewares.

For more information and to apply for a spot at the new store, visit enterprisenation.com/clicksandmortar.