A BRIDAL shop owner in Northwich has thanked her loyal supporters and customers as she celebrates 15 years of business in the town.
Tracy Hollinshead, who has been working in the wedding industry for 20 years, opened Cherish Bridal in Middlewich Road in 2007, and it is believed to be the longest established bridal boutique in Northwich.
“Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years,” Tracy said.
“I get massive support from my husband and my two children, and there are the models who help me with catwalk shows and wedding fairs, there are people in the industry who support me - there’s quite a big circle of people.
“The time that I have been here, I have had massive support from the community and word of mouth.”
Reflecting on the past 15 years, Tracy said her journey hasn’t always been plain sailing.
She recalled: “Six months after we opened, the UK went into recession – and I thought, ‘what have I done?’.”
“And we’ve also had Covid.
“It was scary for me, but obviously I had to look after my brides.
“My priority was to make sure they were kept in the loop with everything that was going on at the time.
“The customers have been amazingly supportive and really understanding about things.
“It’s been nice to have that two-way compassion.
“At the moment, we have got the cost-of-living crisis going on – and people are still trying to recover from Covid.
“People are being very cautious.
“It’s affected the wedding industry and we’ve had to put things in action that we never thought we’d have to.”
Tracy has stepped up her social media presence since the first pandemic in 2020, just one of the changes which have been brought in as lockdowns changed people’s habits.
She added: “When I first started in the industry the way you got out there was the Yellow Pages or a bridal magazine which came out once or twice a year.
“It’s exploded since social media.”
Despite the challenges of the past few years, Tracy has enjoyed every second helping brides in Northwich.
She said it ‘feels like five minutes ago' that she set up shop in the town and has since won various industry awards.
“There’s so many stand-out things from the past 15 years, but just being here is the best thing,” Tracy said.
For more information, visit cherishbridal.co.uk.
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