I’ve always thought that menswear is easy. Easy to come across, easy to accessorise, easy to look individual in and easy to express through.But recently, a flow of Topman t-shirt wearing gents have come into my vision and I can’t help thinking that maybe it is just as hard for guys to track down a source of unique apparel. If you are a young male, looking for some relaxed street wear that the guy next to you isn’t going to have, where do you go?
The answer – www.thebakerystore.co.uk a gem of an online shopping haven for anyone who likes good music and would like to look somewhat dapper whilst out and about listening to said good music. With a bevy of products and brands The Bakery is fast becoming THE trend hotspot. The website is visually a treat, easy to use for those of us used to paying only via a chip and pin machine and for those lazy shoppers, if you get bored you can take a break from filling up your basket and have a quick read of interviews with fellow Yorkshire offering; Toddla T. The best thing about The Bakery? There’s a little something for the ladies too.
I caught up with my very well dressed friend Rich, mastermind behind The Bakery in his office in Sheffield for a few questions.
What motivated you to start The Bakery?
The idea for the shop came over two years ago when I was made redundant from managing a high end men’s shoe boutique in Nottingham. I couldn’t find a job that I would have been satisfied in so decided after some thought to launch my own shop. At first it was very graphic-y stuff brand wise as well as selling Mr. Scruff products and Fancie Cupcakes. Over time though my tastes and the shop product matured and streamlined into a more streetwear approach.
What is the ethos behind the online store and it’s products?
The main thing for the brands is two fold. It needs to be of a high quality and fully independent. There are enough really awesome stores out there such as Flatspot and Donuts who stock the big brand names and stuff, which we can’t really compete with at the minute, so our ethos is finding the niche little brands and some of the stuff you can’t really find easily.
What can we get our hands on at The Bakery?
We stock a variety of brands from the UK and further afield. We stock a few established brands such as Second Son and CTRL from Finland, whilst also stocking some of the up and coming UK brands such as A Real Lifestyle and Bake Designs and then the awesome find brands like Coltesse and Rockers NYC. We are always on the look out for new talent and don’t really stick to seasonal buying, it’s more a case of we’ll order it when it’s out there.
What would be your dream line or your dream designer / product to stock?
Probably the Billionaire Boys Club brand. It’s pretty overpriced for what it is really but being a huge Neptunes fan for years it’d be a bit of a coup to actually stock it.
What’s different about The Bakery site?
We’ve just tweaked and relaunched the site, but it’s constantly updated throughout the day as well as linked with our Facebook and Twitter. We’re also developing a news feed that will accompany the website which will have loads of exclusive music downloads and news items. That’ll take some time to grow and develop but we’ve got some awesome talented people we know who’ll be helping us with that one.
What’s the price range of what The Bakery sells?
Our bread and butter is the standard £20 graphic tees, but we’ll also have a nice selection of shirts and cardigans, especially as we move into yet another winter!
What makes buying at The Bakery online better than buying in store?
Well you can buy in store if you’re in Sheffield. We’ve got some of our line in Arcade on Devonshire Street, and our office is a revolving door with people most days. But all our orders are packed and sent next day unless we are snowed under. All our orders are packed with stickers and flyers, whatever we have lying around the offices. It’s a right little adventure opening our orders!
Who shops at The Bakery?
Well, without dropping too many names Annie Mac and Toddla T are customers. We have a lot of orders from London which is cool for us because of the selection and great shops they have down there. Cardiff is a hot spot for us, no idea why!
Who would be your dream client and what would you recommend they buy?
The biggest buzz is going to an event and seeing the DJ’s or band guys rocking Bakery goods even when you didn’t realise or sort them out personally! Dream customer would probably be…gosh…Dead or alive? Charles Bukowski, just so I could meet him.
What’s best for Bakery shoppers on a budget and what would you show a big spender?
The Bake Designs stuff is sick for twenty quid, can’t go wrong. For the big spender, we don’t really stock stupid money stuff, but the higher end CTRL stuff is really nice.
www.thebakerystore.co.uk
Twitter – bakerystore
E-mail – hello@thebakerystore.co.uk
