It was a unique York shop, loved by locals and visitors alike.
But more than two years ago, at Christmas 2021, York Glass shut its distinctive shop on Shambles.
It was most famous for selling York Lucky Cats, the hand crafted ornament guaranteed to bring you good fortune.
And it was also home to the York Cat Trail – the walk around the city where you try to spot all the feline sculptures scampering over rooftops and up walls.
At the time, York Glass Ltd director John Hopkinson told YorkMix that he would continue to trade online. But he was moving out of the city centre because “the rents in York swallow too much of what is left whilst York continues to be very much food and drink orientated”.
Now though, he has had a change of heart. John is opening York Lucky Cats at number 34 Coney Street.
That’s the retail unit on the ground floor of the Continental Gold holiday apartments, which opened in May last year. The last shop in the unit was the jewellery brand Swarovski.
Less rent
John, co-owner of York Lucky Cats, is looking forward to trading in the heart of the city again.
“Our loyal and supportive customers missed us from our Shambles days and kept telling us at the St Nick’s Fair that we needed to return,” he said. “We are glad to be returning.”
The new shop will distribute York Cat Trail leaflets as its predecessor did.
It will be run by co-owner and one of the original York Lucky Cat team from Shambles times, Sonia Halejak. She will be known to many residents from her years on the St Nicholas Fayre market and her own unique glass products.
John added: “In addition to our eternally popular and wholly original York Lucky Cats we will also stock vintage and other cat related products.
“We are also bringing our highly popular ‘at least as good as Liberty’ Christmas decorations.
“There will be many other hopefully quirky and slightly different gift related products and cards. We hope also to introduce a catalogue in due course.”
He said he’d decided to open a retail outlet again as “our online sales have not been as we might have hoped and the rent at number 34 Coney Street is less than we paid for more than a decade in Shambles”.
As well as popularising the cat trail, John said “I also placed and commissioned a dozen or more cat statues in central York, being helpful in growing it from ten or a dozen into the healthy twenties… from whence it has subsequently grown further.”
Customers both old and new are very welcome as the new York Lucky Cats shop plans a soft opening on Wednesday 18 May “and possibly a day or so prior depending on progress,” John said.
“We will also have some free gifts for kids that complete our original York Cat Trail.”