Flossie & Boo in Newark Market Place's grand reopening event to take place this weekend after the shop's original frontage was restored thanks to funding from Historic England secured by Newark and Sherwood District Council

A shop in the heart of town is reopening after five months of work to give its frontage a 1920s look.

Flossie & Boo at 19 Market Place is holding its grand reopening event Saturday (September 30) from 9.30am to 4pm.

The shop closed in April to have its frontage refurbished to bring it closer to its original design back in the 1920s.

The work was enabled thanks to a share of the £275,000 through Historic England’s High Streets Heritage Action Zone scheme, which promotes the vitality of town centres by protecting, enhancing and celebrating heritage.

The project was funded through this investment with contributions from the district council and building owners.

Other shopfronts benefit too.

“It’s been a long time since we were last open so I am very excited to open the doors and welcome all the customers back and hopefully some new ones now that the shop looks wonderful,” said the shop owner Carly Carpenter.

On Saturday, there will be prosecco, sweets and cakes available. Carly’s eight-year-old son, Bertie will have his own corner in the shop selling pocket-money sweets and toys.

The shop will reopen with new brands on display including designers such as Ted Baker and Ralph Lauren.

The interior of the shop is on a mission to mirror the new eye-catching frontage, to which the owner bought a Georgian table.

Flossie & Boo first opened its doors three years ago, and it was named after Carly’s two children.

When Bertie was a baby, she used to call him Bertie Boo and Florence has always been nicknamed Flossie.

“We are a family-run business that thinks about families and is at the heart of what we do and that is what I missed the most, seeing and talking to families and their children,” she added.

“I want to help people find the gifts that they need, that’s what I love doing.

“People come to me for help and I send suggestions, you don’t get that service from Amazon or other online stores.

“Some people travel all the way from Sheffield, Yorkshire and Nottingham to our town as I carefully pick out brands that I know aren’t stocked anywhere else locally.”

The works developed by the construction company Limetree Building Ltd saw the shop’s new frontage painted signage on a black timber fascia panel that was installed alongside dark green glazed Victorian-style bricks for the stall riser.

“I think Saturday will be a real buzz for the shop and the town and either people come on Saturday, next week or in the future, it will always make me happy to see everyone and that’s what’s important when you run a business,” concluded Carly.