Whitstable Produce Store celebrated it’s first birthday on Saturday 6 December.
The Store opened on Saturday 7 December 2013 with eight seats, a handful of suppliers, no staff and a plan – to work with local suppliers to profile and sell excellent local products and produce. Now, the Store can seat over forty (indoors and outdoors), stocks food and drink from over twenty local producers and suppliers and employs five staff – all paid the Living Wage. For it’s birthday – and Small Business Saturday – owner Steve Jones invited some of the regular suppliers and Harbour Street neighbours to create “limited edition” products to sell on the day.
The star of the day was undoubtedly the special Giant Birthday Cupcake from fellow Harbour Street traders What’s Up Cupcake (see picture), with Dine Thyme’s giant Game Pie and Sylvia and Terry’s special birthday macarons also very popular.
The Store had some great birthday coverage with the staff, suppliers – and the cake – featuring in the Whitstable Times http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/Whitstable-Produce-Store-celebrates-birthday/story-25453246-detail/story.html and in the Guardian Gallery for Small Business Saturday http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/gallery/2014/dec/09/small-business-saturday-pictures-gallery The icing on the cake was a starring role as one of the Top Stories here https://guardian-registration.s3.amazonaws.com/email/lPeZ78IBQci_Yx9YfIZ4cg.html
That cake’s going to be hard to follow … but plans are already taking shape…
