After setting up her business prelove and reloved (selling quality second hand clothes and accessories), Octavia couldn’t find a suitable outlet to sell in person and so with a friend they started She Sells by the Sea, a pop up market for similar businesses.  Setting up in different locations around Whitstable and bringing an organised and energetic vibe, it has been a hit with both traders and customers alike.

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With this success, she wanted to create something similar but on a grander scale and decided a more permanent spot on the high street would be perfect to create a space to showcase independent traders and small businesses, to invigorate the town and keep it fresh for locals and tourists alike.

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Starting in an unused supermarket, she organised and ran a pop-up shop and had over 30 businesses trading in the Summer of 2023.  Once this lease had finished, she set to work finding a shop with a longer lease after lots of positive feedback from customers and traders.

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Taking on an old betting shop in the middle of Whitstable high street, she pulled together friends and family and little help from nearby businesses Duma and Chappell Contemporary Gallery to transform the space.  In just eight days the building was stripped and remodelled with 9 pods ready for people to create their own mini shops, just in time for Christmas.

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The space is evolving all the time as new ideas come about for workshops and events.  Each month the window is taken over by an artist or small business to create an enticing and inspiring display and community flyers and local magazines and newspapers promoting the area can always be found around the shop.

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 It’s turned out to be just as she hoped, a fun and welcoming marketplace for people to connect, sell the wares and the community is still building.