A 17 year old girl has become Britain’s youngest ever shopkeeper by opening her own gift shop in Modbury, Devon.
The shop owned by Lucie Balchin, and named The Crazy Cow gift shop, was opened ten days after Lucie turned 17. The lease of the commercial property is in Lucie’s name, but due to being under the age of 18 she cannot legally own a business bank account or sign cheques, so these have been put in her mother’s name.
Speaking of how she came to open her own commercial property, Lucie stated: “I’d been working next door in the coffee shop when I was told the shop was shutting down. It all happened so fast and once I’d bought the lease I opened the shop the day after it closed after spending all night stocking it.”
“I’ve had a lot of support from my parents and the shop is building gradually. It was a massive risk but it seems very successful.”
Lucie beats the current record holder, the BBC’s Young Apprentice star Zoe Plummer, who opened a vintage clothing commercial property just before she turned 18.
Speaking of Lucie’s entrepreneurial skills, Michael Weedon, from the British Independent Retailers Association, said: “There are over 3,500 gift shops in this country and independents are opening new ones every day, but we have never seen one opened and run by one so young.
“Lucie is a gift to the giftware trade.”
The gift shop stocks everything from jewellery to gadgets, and home ware to cooking equipment. But as well as shopping in the commercial property in Modbury, customers outside of the area also have the option to buy online with delivery to the whole of the UK.
When asked about her new title, Lucie said: “It’s weird to think I could be the youngest shop owner in Britain. People are saying ‘wow’, but after a couple of months it still hasn’t sunk in.”
It just goes to show that age is no barrier when it comes to opening your own commercial property business. If more people who have been recently made redundant took the plunge and opened their own business, it may help ease Britain out of its tough economic situation.
Have you recently opened your own business like Lucie? Would you have the cuts to do so, given the financial risks involved? If Lucie can do it, so can you.
