My post in April this year was based on a Linked in article I wrote a couple of years ago. I had walked into our post office and while gazing at empty shelves I was thinking, ‘what a waste’. Local small businesses, craft makers, hobbyists etc could promote their wares by renting space in this underused, and vulnerable resource. The post office stays open, local entrepeneurs gain, customers gain, what’s to not like? So I wrote about it, and talked about it with people, who are, as I write, putting it into practice.

Mackie Mayor’s, A Prime Example

Last week I visited a fine example of  a shared space maximising its potential. Working with a client in Manchester, we had evenings to fill. Someone recommended Mackie Mayor so one night, off we trotted. What a place! In the same way that ‘food quarters’ are springing up in cities across the world, Mackie Mayor is an illustration of ‘strength in unity’. This 1858 disused market place in Manchester’s Northern Quarter has had the life bellowed back into it by the people behind Altrincham Market. Mackie’s is an eclectic mix of food outlets within a previously disused but magnificent building. It is now a bustling, vibrant experience, and it’s fabulous. Grab a space at a trestle table, choose from one of the oh so cool eateries, stop off at the bar and your food arrives at your table. The place was ‘buzzing’, mid-week.

Share The Overheads, Increase Your Profits

Step one – Find a disused building, preferably with character, and strength (literally, you don’t want to take on a money pit) Step two – Take a look at successful examples and decide what will work Step three – Find local, independent businesses who ‘fit into the big picture’, the overall offering needs to be a place people will want to come

Changing Face of Retail

In the way that shopping centres give customers choice and convenience, these shared spaces might be the way forward for retail. Each business shares the costs of having a retail outlet while enjoying the benfits of an increased footfall. The offering needs to be attractive enough to pull people away from online and into real life experience. What you could have over Amazon is, an amazing, unique customer experience.