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AJ Handley-Rowe -
10th November 2021
AJ Handley-Rowe -
10th November 2021 New ‘immersive’ cat cafe, pet lifestyle shop, and groomers to open in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
A new one-stop pet lifestyle shop, grooming parlour, and ‘immersive’ cat cafe is set to open in Manchester city centre.
Set to open this autumn down at popular co-living development Square Gardens, LollipawsClub will offer a wide range of services including professional grooming and styling, a pet bakery, and an immersive cat cafe experience, as well as offering a range of pet products including cat and dog food, freeze-dried treats, and lots of toys.
LollipawsClub’s imminent arrival is said to mark a ‘key milestone’ for Square Gardens and the wider First Street community as a whole, as it completes the ground-floor retail offering, with all six commercial units now let.
Developers want Square Gardens to be a neighbourhood hub blending independent food and drink, with everyday essentials and specialist services.
LollipawsClub will join the likes of Asda Express, and East Asian supermarket and restaurant, Seol & Tokyo, an alongside Thai-Chinese restaurant, Yaowarat, and new coffee shop, Ty Blawd – both of which are due to open this summer.
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CGIs of what the new pet lifestyle store an cafe will look like when it opens have been revealed.
“We are thrilled to be joining the Square Gardens community this autumn,” commented Ruby Zhou, who is the Founder of LollipawsClub.
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“We regularly host engaging, pet-focused events and would be delighted for you to join us. Through everything we do, we aim to create an enjoyable and distinctive experience, making life with pets more comfortable, easy, and joyful.”
John Clegg, who is Head of Property Management at Downing – the developers of Square Gardens – added: “LollipawsClub completes the commercial lineup at Square Gardens, and from the outset, our ambition was to create a neighbourhood with its own identity, somewhere residents and the wider community actively choose to spend time.
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“It’s exciting to see the retail offer now fully established alongside a thriving residential community.”
LollipawsClub will open at Square Gardens this autumn, so keep your eyes peeled for more updates and launch details.
Featured Image – Supplied
Brand-new sandwich shop with Michelin credentials ALREADY forced to close
Daisy Jackson
A brand-new sandwich shop in Oldham founded by a Michelin-trained chef has had to close its doors already… because it’s simply too popular.
Fjord launched over the weekend, headed up by chef Kieran O’Reilly, with a fine-dining-inspired take on the humble butty. That means sandwiches with up to 20 elements inside.
But the sandwich bar above a barbershop has had to unexpectedly close after just a day of operations, telling followers ‘this isn’t sustainable’.
Fjord’s opening day on Saturday was so popular, they completely sold out within 90 minutes.
The new restaurant said it was having to turn people away from its Lees location, saying it ‘doesn’t sit right’ with them to do so.
And so Kieran and his team have decided to close the sandwich. bar and kitchen for the time being, so that they can reevaluate their operations.
“We’d rather pause briefly now than compromise on quality later,” they wrote in a statement.
“We need a little time to rework our production, increase our capacity, strengthen our supply chain and make sure we can deliver the quality and experience that Fjord stands for, without people queuing endlessly or missing out.”
Over the next couple of days, Fjord will be meeting with their investors to stock up on more stand mixers, and more produce, so that they can scale the business to meet the incredible demand from locals.
In their full statement, they wrote: “Over the last few days, the support for Fjord has completely exceeded anything we could have imagined. From local customers to food bloggers, content creators and everyone who’s made the journey to see what we’re about, thank you.
“Today was our official launch, and the response has been overwhelming. We sold through what we expected to be a week’s worth of ingredients in a single day. The feedback on our sandwiches has been incredible, and seeing so many people enjoy what we’ve created has been a proud moment for the whole team.
“The only downside … We’ve had to turn people away. That doesn’t sit right with us. So we’re going to be closing for the next two days.
“Not because anything is wrong, but because everything has gone right.
“We need a little time to rework our production, increase our capacity, strengthen our supply chain and make sure we can deliver the quality and experience that Fjord stands for, without people queuing endlessly or missing out.
“This isn’t a step backwards; it’s a step towards building something sustainable, consistent and worthy of the support you’ve shown us.
“We’d rather pause briefly now than compromise on quality later.
“Thank you for your patience, your support and for believing in what we’re building. We’ll be back very soon, better prepared, fully stocked and ready to welcome even more of you through the door.
“This is only the beginning. All food options, booking and concepts reworked, all announced over the next days. Wednesday morning 9am.”
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Featured image: The Manc Group
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