Campaign to promote famous county shopping street

A new campaign promoting one of Shropshire’s most famous shopping streets is being launched. Traders on Wyle Cop in Shrewsbury have joined forces to raise their profile and encourage more visitors.

“We believe we are the longest stretch of independent shops in the country and we want to shout about it,” explained Jonathan Soden of art gallery The Soden Collection.

“A new Wyle Cop brand has been created and under this new initiative we will be organising events that the whole street can get involved in,” he explained.

Jonathan said that decreased footfall in the town due to road closures led retailers to come together and take positive action.

Shrewsbury marketing agency Reech Media asked if they could create the new brand and 7Video has made a film promoting the historic street.

Stacey Hill, owner of Oberon, which has three shops on Wyle Cop, said: “There is a huge sense of community here and although each retailer and business is very different this new campaign is all about coming together and working as a team.

“Shrewsbury is a wonderful town with an amazing array of independent shops and as our campaign gathers pace we will ensure it is an even more attractive place to visit.”

The brand is set to be officially unveiled on August 24 and 25 with a festival-type event with live music, offers and entertainment.

A series of Sunday opening events will be launched for the last Sunday of each month until the end of the year.

“Hopefully more and more shops will see the benefit of opening their businesses on Sunday and take advantage of the free parking that Shrewsbury offers on this day,” Stacey added.