It’s a crisp Wednesday afternoon at Old Town General Store in Stockport which originally opened just after the pandemic. Union caught up with its founder Tony Murray which is no stranger to Manchester’s fashion industry having been menswear sales director at Selfridges in the city centre and also working at Harvey Nichols in Leeds previously.
“It’s a bit of a fluke really to be honest,” Tony says referring to his new venture, Old Town General Store, opening the door to the back room.
“I’ve lived in Stockport for years but got made redundant in Covid, I never really spent any time in the town centre because I was working in Halifax as a retail director. Before that I worked in Harvey Nicholls. Finding a job wasn’t easy in a pandemic and at the level I’d reached. Commuting to Halifax was hard work so I considered Stockport. It used to take me an hour to go to work so I sat in the garden and thought it’s always a dream to open a shop. I sat down with the missus and had a chat and began to map it out.”
Despite it being a challenge, Old Town General Store was looking more like a possibility as the months went on.
“The only place really could be Stockport because of the travel so that’s what I did. I wasn’t aware of the regeneration at the time. Rare Mags were on their own, SK1 Records weren’t what they are now, Top of the Town vintage weren’t there. I came and did some reccy’s on some shops and a chat with Martin from Rare Mags and he gave me a few hints and tips about Stockport. There was a unit I was interested in but they’d already got it before me.
“I was still interested in the idea though because it was cheap, no competition and if a magazine shop can expand into a unit three times the size selling magazines with no other stores around him, there has to be potential for my idea and that was the business plan at the time. I’ve got good connections and can get the brands, why not?”
Tony had his first unit several months later and Old Town General Store was beginning to take shape.
“As we were coming out of Covid, clothing sales online had picked up but in store had declined. Homeware, bits of candles and that sort of thing were doing well. It just gave me the opportunity to sell what I wanted then and that’s the ethos of the store now. Hopefully you’ll find something you didn’t expect to find, we’re not a clothes store or beauty or homeware store, you’ll find everything. Toothpastes, candles, bags, hot sauces, Old Town General Store will try anything.
“It also means we can work with small and local producers, anyone that we see fit who fits into our model we can give them some publicity. Whether that’s vintage stores or pop ups. We’ve got interest from a Classic Football Shirt business who might want to come and do pop up store. We did one with a local sneaker shop a few weeks back to give them a leg up just to help them out.”
Speaking to Tony, it’s obvious how retail has changed since the pandemic.
“We can all open the door, sell some clothes and go home but there’s a lot of competition these days on the internet. You can be in Aberdeen or even the States and still sell to someone in Stockport. To get people through the door you need to create experiences and put on events.
“We took part in paint jam and got some DJs who were friends of the store to help out and have done listening parties for album launches, brand launches. We’ll do some food evenings eventually in store. There’s lots of plans beyond just selling stuff. That’s partly why we did the event with Union to get out to people and for them not to come to us.”
There’s also loads of quality fashion brands around Manchester at the minute and Tony has a few favourites.
“Private White, for quietly making some of the highest quality luxury items in the heart of Manchester, Hikerdelic, for its fun clever designs, and it was started in Stockport.
“Emiko Studios, not only is the store incredibly cool, they also make most of their range right in the heart of Stockport, Steranko for over 30 years of independent trading in Didsbury and Selfridges for being the catalyst to some of the world’s biggest luxury brands coming to the North.”
Although Old Town General Store is in Stockport, it still benefits from being in Greater Manchester which Tony says is a great place to start a business.
“We’ve got a brilliant community and lots of indie retailers, we talk to customers as they come through the door, we spend time with them and feel a bit like tourist information sometimes telling them which shops to visit. We all work together and are conscious about what we’re bringing in, not competing. We’re getting visitors now coming saying they’ve heard about the regeneration and want to see it. You can’t just open the door these days and rely on getting a regular trade, people want experiences.
“You watch a game of football and it’s about the experience as much as the 90 minutes. We did a collaboration with Stockport County and Hikerdelic who brought out a range which we sold and it was really successful. Because we’re small we can work on a micro level and do it together. If I can get County’s crowd shopping in Old Town General Store that’s a great benefit.
“When you start writing down what we’ve actually got in Manchester and Stockport, it’s amazing because they’re all part of the community. There’s a great buzz.”
“It’s relatively inexpensive to find property, especially in the towns and villages. We have fantastic travel links including rail, bus, tram and roads. Time between all the major towns is not long so customers are willing to travel to see new things so you get great support from all around the area. In general I’ve found councils to be very supportive and most towns and cities have a BiD (business improvement district) which are helping to being new and exciting events giving customers better experiences.
If you want to check out Old Town General Store, it’s just a quick 10 minute train ride to Stockport and short walk from the station. Find them at, 51 Great Underbank, Stockport SK1 1NE
For more stories from traders at Union’s first Souls Sampled event keep an eye on our page here.