24-06-2025
Latest on much-loved Stroud town centre shop due to close
URGENT steps are being taken to save a much-loved Stroud shop which will close after 48 years.
Sew & So, in Lansdown, is set to close after its owner, Jackie Hall, decided to retire.
When the "closing down" sign was put in the shop window, Ms Hall said she was inundated with people saying how sad they were at the news.
A GoFundMe page was set up and a group has now come forward to try and keep the store open.
Diana Basterfield, who set up the fundraising page, said: "I am one of hundreds of Sew and So customers who have signed the petition on the shop counter because we can't bear the thought of this much-loved haberdashery shop closing down.
"I went into the shop recently and was shocked to see the 'closing down ' notice.
"I spoke to Jackie Hall, the owner, who has run it so successfully for 48 ,years.
"She told me that she wanted to retire and no one had offered to take over the business.
"I went home thinking about all the creative people in Stroud who depend on the shop for their materials - how two generations had depended on it to keep their family's clothes in good repair and how many mothers had been able to make inexpensive clothes for their children because of it.
"I asked around and discovered that there was a way that the shop could continue - the community could take it over.
"That was the answer.
"Since then I have been contacting people to join the campaign and to raise starter funds through GoFundMe to pay to take on the lease and establish the Community Benefit Society.
"People have already donated £900 and signatures of support on the form in the shop exceed 350.
"Much remains to be done and I look forward to working with like-minded Stroudies to help Sew and So keep on going as it clearly meets a very important community need."
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