Dorchester now has even more to offer with the opening of a new shop in the town centre.

Cranbornes has opened in Antelope Walk, bringing a selection of gifts, cards, fashion accessories, jewellery and more, as it does in another part of Dorset, Shaftsbury.

Co-owner Karen Hardwick said: "Shaftsbury opened in 1992 by previous owners Jonathan and Elizabeth Patterson. I started to work there in 1996, I worked as a sales assistant and took over as manager a few years later.

"In 2019, Jonathan and Lizzie decided to retire, so along with my partner, Tony, we took it over.

"Last year we did a pop-up shop in Shaftsbury, a toy shop, and we are about to open that again next month."

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, she has been able to expand the business in to Dorchester.

Karen added: "We were in Dorchester one day and we happened to be going through Antelope Walk and saw the empty property, so we thought, let's give it a go.

"There was a shop in Dorchester that sold very similar stuff to us, hence why we probably never looked at Dorchester before. So, when the lady retired, we thought this would be an opportunity to come.

"The fact that Antelope Walk is now getting more businesses opening up does help and it is such a pretty walkway through here.

"You have to take these opportunities, they come along not very often and I think you've just got to try it."

Karen opened to doors of Cranbornes of Dorchester on October 2 and the response has been great.

She said: "It's been really good, really positive and the feedback from people has been amazing - everyone is really liking t and liking the stuff we've got.

"I'm a really big fan of high street shopping. We do have a website but I don't put anything on it [to sell], just information. I don't sell anything online."

Karen also makes an effort to stock local companies and those who cannot be found on Amazon and eBay, which prefer to support independent high street shops.

Cranbornes of Dorchester is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm and can be followed on Facebook and Instagram.

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