Blog

STAFF and customers at The Original Factory Shop in Bideford raised £484 for Appledore Gig Rowing Club.

Staff organised regular fundraising events for the club as part of the Original Factory Shop's Make a Difference in Your Community campaign.

Store Manager Mark Lees said: "It's fantastic to know that together with our customers, we've helped to raise a huge amount of money for people in need, including £484 for Appledore Gig Rowing Club here in Bideford.

"We're passionate about supporting causes in our local community close to our store and that's why we carefully chose Appledore Gig Rowing Club as our partner for 2011

"We're hoping to raise even more funds before this year's partnership ends in December."

The store in the High Street will soon be launching a search for a new charity partner for 2012.

See full article Here

STAFF and customers at The Original Factory Shop in Amesbury have raised £462 for charity.

The shop organised regular fundraising events for the 2nd Amesbury Brownies as part of the Original Factory Shop’s Make a Difference in Your Community campaign.

Shops across the country have raised a total of £100,000 for local charities since it launched in January last year.

Store Manager Lorraine Goodwin said: “It’s fantastic to know that together with our customers we’ve helped to raise a huge amount of money for people in need, including £462 for 2nd Amesbury Brownies here in Amesbury.

“We’re passionate about supporting causes in our local community, close to our store and that's why we carefully chose 2nd Amesbury Brownies as our partner for 2011. We're hoping to raise even more funds before this year’s partnership ends in December.”

The Salisbury Street store will soon be launching a search for a new charity partner for 2012.

See full article Here

A MARCH shop has donated two suitcases to the town’s brass band to help them carry their instruments to performances.

March Brass 2000 was handed the donation by The Original Factory Shop to help them continue to perform for the community.

Tricia Bagge, the store’s manager, said: “The brass band receives no financial support, so they rely on fundraising events and donations for performances to help them cover their annual expenditure.

“They have been established in our town for a very long time and are an integral part of our community, so we were thrilled to help them out when we heard they were in need of a couple of suitcases.”

March Brass 2000 was originally formed in 1891 and has over 30 members, ranging from nine-year-olds to 70-year-olds. One euphonium player, Ivor Smith, has been playing with the band for almost 60 years

See the Full Article Here

THE gardening bug has reached epic proportions in Morpeth as a town centre shop reports rocketing sales in ‘grow your own’ products.

The Original Factory Shop in the Market Place has recorded a staggering 165 per cent increase in its summer sales of the Grow Your Own range from the same period last year.

And there is no sign of the trend slowing up, with packets of seeds, mini greenhouses, salad blends and summer flowering bulbs flying off the shelves.

The store now plans to extend its range, investing in 80 per cent more stock for the 2012 season.

Manager Kim Duncan said: “We began to see an increase in sales of our Grow Your Own ranges back in 2010.

“At the time, people were becoming more savvy about where food has come from and what’s in it. Growing your own food seemed to be a low cost way of gaining that knowledge and eating organic food.

“Now it seems to be the greater need to get back to nature that is driving people to start developing their own fruit and veg patches.

“We’ve been delighted to see this trend continue to grow and we’re already planning bigger ranges and more stock for summer 2012.”

Read the Article here

The Original Factory Shop in Monifieth has reported a massive increase in the sale of products aimed at those who want to create a little of "The Good Life" in their own gardens.

Store manager Karen Rennie said sales of the range have rocketed by 165%.

"We began to see an increase in sales of our Grow Your Own ranges back in 2009. At the time, people were becoming more savvy about where food has come from and what's in it.

"Growing your own food seemed to be a low-cost way of gaining that knowledge and eating organic food. Now it seems to be the greater need to get back nature that is driving people to start developing their own fruit and veg patches."

See The Full Article Here