SHOP!: It's Goodnight From Me

... but not quite goodnight from him - yet. Jayne here! Director, Founder and one half of SHOP along with that there Brett, and this is my last ever SHOP-blog.

In case you are wondering what I'm talking about, SHOP is currently entering its victory lap as we prepare to shut-up-shop for good. They say that you get itchy feet every 7 years and after nearly 8 years of SHOP that's exactly how it feels. We are lucky enough not to have been forced out by evil landlords or adverse trading conditions, we're simply ready for a new adventure - it's just the way we are. To that end we are moving to Madrid!

However, we're not quite done yet. I have a one-way plane ticket booked for the next week, but Brett will remain in Bristol for some months more to find a suitable successor to SHOP, and before then we have lots of exciting stuff going on. Including a massive sale and an entire festival! The Festival of Football Ideas will take place in the At-Bristol Planetarium this summer (see more info here: FOFI) and will provide info on the massive sale when we have it.

Anyway, enough of the logistics, the point of this post was just to say, simply - thank you. The last 7 and a half years (almost to the day!) have been incredible. I know people always say the same kind of things at these times, the word rollarcoaster come to mind, but I know why now, 'cus cliches are true sometimes and rollarcoaster is about perfect. Or perhaps, more perfect would be a rollarcoaster travelling through sunshine, storms, rainbows and hail, sometimes all at once. If I had known a fraction of what lay ahead when SHOP first opened in 2006, I would have run a fookin' mile, but I'm so glad I didn't and therefore that I went ahead blindly, yet openly. I have learnt an immeasurable amount about myself, about running a small company, about people and I've had experiences that I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have had in any other walk of life. I've learnt the value of relationships, relatedness and autonomy (would have been so cool if that last one began with a R).

That is just the tangible stuff, the intangible stuff I wouldn't even know where to begin. It really is kind of impossible to express and to summarise the influence SHOP has had on every area of my life, nothing has been exempt and clearly, none of it would have been possible without the people, as in our customers and supporters, as in - you! Although at times it felt like SHOP was indeed an island, before the Christmas Steps were enjoying the beginnings of the resurgence they are now (and which I'm extremely proud to have been a part of), obviously we aren't and it is the sublime, the beautiful (and even the occacional grotesque!) that walk through our door everyday that have made SHOP what it is.

I wanted to include my favourite picture of SHOP here, but it has been packed and shipped along with all my belongings. It is of me and Brett at the launch of SHOP on 16th October 2006 and we are standing on the red step having just cut the ribbon, I'm leaning forward to kiss Brett and he has his hands nonchalantly in his pockets (the swine!). We look well young and when I think of that night I think of how we were on the verge of something scary and wonderful, and that is exactly - with just 5 sleeps until I emigrate - how I feel right now. If the next 7 years are anything like the last I will feel myself to be extremely lucky and very very happy.

Well, I'll shut up now and just say again, thank you - it has been a privilege.