A York shop owner has revealed plans to hand over her business, and it could be yours – for free!
Mel Metcalf owns The Giftery & The Shop of Small Changes on Burton Stone Lane and has run the business for six years, opening in 2019.
Despite the store’s successes, personal circumstances have meant it’s time for a change.
Mel revealed that the team are hoping to give the business to new owners for free, posting the unique offering to Facebook on Saturday (1 March).
The Giftery & The Shop of Small Changes operate as two shops in one building, a gift shop alongside a zero waste lifestyle shop.
In the post, she made the sincerity of the offer very clear. “No tricks, no underhand tactics, nothing hidden.
“We like to think that our friends, customers and regular visitors would know that we absolutely truly mean this and that this is an entirely genuine thing that we would like to do!
“Our business is very nearly six years old, it’s profitable and we saw ourselves being here for a very long time.”
She added that the shop went into profit after only six months – “which is quite unheard of in retail”.
“We are thriving but unfortunately, life events have taken over and, very sadly, we can’t be the ones to continue with this fantastic business,” Mel added.
“Therefore, we are looking for someone, a family, a couple, a group, another local business to take on this business from us. As an ethical business, we would like to do the ethical thing which may seem rather unorthodox.
“We are so very desperate for this business to continue that we would like to give our business to someone.
“I repeat, we would like to give our business away. The shop in its entirety would be yours. Fixtures, fittings, ownership, reputation, 5-star reviews, customer base, huge loyalty etc. Everything!
“All you would need to pay for is a (very) nominal amount for stock holding. The rest would be entirely free.
“We would provide all information and offer a complete handover and full training to any new owners… and we would then walk away and it’s yours.”
Ideally, the shop would be taken over by someone passionate about environmental issues, climate change, and the zero waste philosophy.
The business began by trading at large music festivals and Christmas events.
Mel and the team were looking to locate into a permanent home in the area they’d lived in for over 20 years, so moved into the Burton Stone Lane site in 2019.
After becoming increasingly aware of the damage plastics cause to the planet, the idea for the second half of the business was born.
Having already sold zero waste items alongside the gifts, it felt like a natural progression for the business to bring the two elements together.
As it stands, it’s York’s only combined gift shop/zero waste refill centre.
If you think you could take over the shop, Mel would love to hear from you. See full details and get in touch here.