May 2007
Location, location, location

There are cows mooing outside my window today. Yesterday it was sheep (not mooing - that might be a worry), the day before it was seagulls. It isn't easy to think amid all this noise. But this isn't just Devon's soundtrack; it's also inspired a whole herd of businesses in the region. We can buy buffalo mozzarella and feta made from sheep's milk in the village shop. In fact, just like other counties in the UK, Devon's shoppers have many unique items on their lists. You can buy local clotted cream in every supermarket, and firewood on almost any road. And don't ask about the cider. We don't drink it from plastic bottles like you do: it comes in vast ceramic vats.

These ponderings about shopping climates have led from something, and I am getting to my point here: this month Bees launches its website. The store's success stems from a unique shopping micro-climate too.

It's 1994 in an Asian community in East London, and brides-to-be, mothers-in-law and young socialites have nowhere to buy their costume jewellery and accessories. Enter Bees: a specialist jeweller in an overwhelmingly demanding market. Their premise: the UK's widest range of costume jewellery and bangles - in every shade of the rainbow, and hundreds more. Asian women bring their outfits to the store to get all matched up and coordinated. It's a huge success.

By 2006, Bees is running extra print runs on its first brochure, and this year its website will launch. Could be the start of world domination - and it all came from a simple idea based on the demands of one small location. Is there something missing in your little slice of Britain? The niche could extend further than you think.

www.shopbees.co.uk

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