A quirky shop offering retro and vintage feel gifts will be officially opened in Cliftonville on Saturday (May 18).
St Peter’s resident Richard Llewellyn, with support from wife Jo, is at the helm of Then, which he named after a song by The Charlatans.
The music fan and DJ, who is known for once spinning the decks at Margate’s Black Cat Club as well as Olby’s and for the Mod Weekender, says the name also reflects the vintage and retro vibe.
He said: “I came back to the UK 10 years ago after meeting Jo. I had been living in Germany for five years and before that I was a businessman in Margate but gave those to my brothers when I left.
“One of the businesses was for car accessories in Margate (Thanet Autostores) and we have been working out of the back of there for a couple of years although 95% of our business has been online.
“Then has outgrown that space and I wanted to expand the arrangement we could offer, I have added a good few hundred more lines.
“It is stuff with a vintage/retro vibe, anything that reminds me of the past in a gift way. It is all new, so reproduction, and it was based a lot around people with man caves, garages, sheds and car stuff but then gradually I added more things to appeal to the rest of the clientele.
“So we are expanding and bringing something different to the high street. Northdown Road is a good mix of everything from art galleries to coffee shops and we will be in the middle of it.”
The store, which has had a soft opening, offers a nod to the past with everything from posters and prints to bags and coasters, car signs, resin telephone bookends, items sporting Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles to Batman, Lambretta and VW.
Richard, 60, is trading now but will have the special opening event “with some fizz” from 10am this Saturday.
Then at 268a Northdown Road will be open Monday-Friday 9.30am to 5pm and Saturday 10am-4pm.
You can also find Then online at: thenstore.co.uk.
