Fig 1, the home and kitchen accessories shop, will become the latest independent retailer to join Bristol’s burgeoning Wapping Wharf community when it opens its doors in the coming weeks.
Mark Fletcher, owner and founder of Fig 1, and his team, are currently fitting out 9 Gaol Ferry Steps, where he will be launching his second shop before Christmas. Fig 1 is taking 775 sq ft of space at Wapping Wharf – the last remaining retail space on Gaol Ferry Steps, the new tree-lined route running through this new neighbourhood.
Proudly independent, Fig 1 was established in 2007 in Totterdown, where it still has a shop, and provides a range of home and kitchen products and accessories.
Mark Fletcher said: “We have always had a love for colour at Fig 1 and we will most certainly be bringing this passion to our new shop at Wapping Wharf, where we will offer our customers an eclectic mix of products from cards to cookbooks, and from cool lighting to tableware. It is incredibly exciting to be launching a second shop and we felt there was no better place to do it than at Wapping Wharf, which is such a vehement supporter of the independent retail scene. There is a real buzz about the place and we are really looking forward to being involved.”
Fig 1’s shop at Wapping Wharf will have a warm and cosy warehouse feel to it, with industrial materials and trestle style tables softened by the use of recycled wood, warm lighting, house plants and soft furnishings. It is planning to have a soft launch in the next few weeks.
Stuart Hatton, director at Umberslade, one of the developers behind Wapping Wharf, said: “We can’t wait for Fig 1 to open at Wapping Wharf. It will be a superb addition to this new community, complementing the retailers we already have open and offering a huge range of products for the home or to be given as gifts. We are very pleased that the final unit at Gaol Ferry Steps is now let, as it paves the way for this new part of the city to become established as a new independent retail quarter for Bristol.”
Fig 1 stocks one of the widest ranges in the UK of quirky Danish designer Rice, known for its colourful melamine products. Fig 1 also stocks: Nkuku, a fair-trade UK home interiors company with a Scandinavian feel; Bloomingville, a Danish interiors company; and a range of smaller Bristol-based makers and artists.
When complete, the Wapping Wharf community will include over 600 new homes as well as a range of independent retailers. Mokoko, Better Food, Bertha’s Pizza, Little Victories and Wild Beer Co are already open along Gaol Ferry Steps, with Biblos coming soon.
CARGO 1 – the first phase – is now also open and home to retailers such as Woky Ko, an Asian restaurant and takeaway headed up by MasterChef finalist Larkin Cen of Cen at Celtic Manor, as well as BOX-E, modern British seasonal cooking by award-winning chef Elliott Lidstone, and the first PIGSTY restaurant brought to you by the three brothers behind The Jolly Hog and Will Collier, current Harlequins player, as well as many more.
The first phase of the Wapping Wharf neighbourhood is now complete, comprising 194 homes, with phase two, which will include over 320 new homes, coming next.
JLL is the agent acting on behalf of Umberslade for retail lettings at Wapping Wharf.
