The Dragon Fireplace Company is set to open its new store on Finkle Street in Thorne, just outside Doncaster after signing a ten-year lease following negotiations with the commercial team at our Doncaster office highlighting the strength of high street retail in the area.
The company, run by business partners Carole Proberts and Martin Brewster, wanted to expand from its current warehouse showroom in Armthorpe and open a more traditional shop with a cosier feel for customers. We were marketing the 2,178 sq ft unit of retail space, as well as a first-floor office, storage space and off-street parking which sees high footfall due to Finkle Street being pedestrianised.
Carole and Martin felt its potential for a welcoming atmosphere for customers was perfect and signed a ten-year lease on the property before opening the store in June.
Carole said: “Our current showroom in Armthorpe serves us and our customers well enough, but it’s not the prettiest premises in the world. It’s more of a warehouse showroom so it doesn’t have a particularly cosy feel. We’ve been very successful recently and another fireplace business in Selby had recently closed, so we thought there was a great opportunity for us to acquire a new shop in a more traditional high street location. Our business lends itself to having physical stores as customers want to view the fireplaces with their own eyes before committing to a purchase, even if they have initially viewed them online.
“We saw the unit in Thorne could be great for us with Finkle Street’s high footfall. Your team were incredibly helpful in getting everything sorted for us, whether that was arranging viewings or sorting out all the paperwork. Now the lease has been signed, we are busy fitting out the shop to give it that welcoming atmosphere that our customers will enjoy. We’re confident our new shop in Thorne will take our business to even greater heights.”
Jonathan Butler, graduate surveyor at Fisher German who completed the deal with The Dragon Fireplace Company, felt it showed the strength of the market in the Doncaster area.
He said: “With the cost of living beginning to bite for businesses and consumers, the high street is facing some of its toughest challenges to date. What this deal shows is that the appetite for successful businesses to move to traditional high street locations is still there if the right unit is found.
“Thorne is a highly sought-after location in South Yorkshire, and the fact that Finkle Street is pedestrianised means footfall is naturally higher, which is very attractive to retailers. We’re very happy to have secured this deal with Carole and Martin, and we hope their business continues to flourish.”
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