Baldock welcomed a new quirky coffee and vinyl store to its High Street on Saturday.
Stylus opened its doors at the weekend and welcomed the public in for something a little different. The front of the former electrical store now caters for customers coming in to get some food or drink to enjoy in the café area, lounge or as they browse the record room or gift shop.
The team were working in store before opening, paying special attention to the finer details like the feel and volume of the music, and the height of the flowers, ensuring that every detail was accounted for before the big opening – which has been a long time coming for owners Jason Kitchener, Susan Kitchener and Abigail Skinner.
The trio entered into negotiations to lease the property almost a year ago and took seven months to agree on the terms.
One of the shop’s most unique quirks will be the ‘phone-free zone’ in the coffee lounge. Customers will have the option of putting their phones into a ‘Yondr’ pouch, which locks your phone so you can keep it on your person, but eliminates temptation to stare at your phone.
Jason told the Comet: “It’s been about three months of work in the shop to convert it all and we’ve had to get an alcohol licence and get the Yondr partnership up and running.
“When Yondr agreed to do a partnership with us we thought it would be a great little gimmick that would attract customers who want to listen to music, enjoy peoples company and a good cup of coffee.”
Jason explained that their licence allows them to hold 52 live events at the shop per year – something he hopes will become a big selling point with Balstock, dedicated turntables and streaming devices for new bands to demo their music throughout the whole shop.
“We want to be approached by people who want to come and play here,” Jason added.
“It’s easy to get stuck in your ways and just listen to the same music, so this would be a great way to find new music and support local bands.
“We can pretty much do anything we want here. We plan on taking part in Balstock next year, which is quite big at the moment.
“Hitchin is quite a quaint place to go to and we hope to try and bring a bit of that to Baldock. There’s not a massive amount of traffic coming through town but we hope to attract more people here.”
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