Shops / hanham
Local shop featured in national Christmas advert
Eclectic Gift Shop in east Bristol has had a great year. The Hanham-based store was named one of the UK’s best small businesses by Small Business Saturday in September 2019 and were able to add another string to their bow this Christmas, when owner Nicola Bartlett was asked to star in a national Visa ad campaign.
The campaign encourages gift-buyers to shop local at Christmas and is the second Bristol business to be featured by Visa in the run up to the busiest shopping time of the year – East Bristol Bakery recently featured on a huge billboard next to Temple Meads.
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The short video advert showcases the handmade gifts available to buy and highlights that everything in store is made locally by independent artists and small businesses.
“It’s so important for big brands like Visa to spread the message of shopping local because they can reach a huge audience and by bringing together small, independent businesses like mine as part of the campaign,” says Nicola. “They really help us to spread a message that we’re all so passionate about really far and wide.”
“I enjoyed the whole day, but it was particularly lovely being filmed interacting with some of our customers, they are real customers of ours,” she adds. “You’ll see little Leo’s face light up when I demonstrate an automata kit. That really captures what we’re about: we’re part of a fantastic community here in Bristol.”
Behind the scenes filming for the Visa advert. Photo thanks to Nicola Bartlett
As well as selling products from local arts and crafts people, the shop also support four young people who are part of The Prince’s Trust, other makers run their business fulltime, and others are retired, or juggling family life and part-time work.
They also host workshops run by their makers. The workshops are a chance for the public to learn new skills and for the makers stocked in the shop to teach their art to others.
A real champion of the local high street, Eclectic Gift Shop showcase the importance of shopping local and featuring in a national advert really highlights the impact they have on Hanham high street and beyond.
Watch the video below:
https://www.facebook.com/EclecticGiftShop/videos/718656468544400/?v=718656468544400
Read more: Shop of the Week: Eclectic Gift Shop
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