Hull’s Victorian arcade has been greeted by a fanfare of flowers in anticipation of a new era.
As a result of closing her previous shop in North Hull and opening Artisan Flowers in Paragon Arcade, Katrina Moore has pursued a policy of upmarket downsizing.
In the coming weeks and months, Allenby Commercial, the building’s owners, will welcome three more tenants, each of whom will enhance the Arcade’s reputation as a great food destination.
Georgia Allenby, Design and Marketing Manager at Allenby Commercial, said:
“Paragon Arcade is all about giving innovative, creative new businesses a start. That means every now and then some of them move on for various reasons and present opportunities for others to follow.”
“That’s what’s happening now and it’s really exciting. We’ve helped some of our tenants expand into bigger spaces here and we’ve found new arrivals to replace people who have relocated or moved online.”
“The previous florist retired so we were delighted when Katrina came in because every city centre needs what Artisan Flowers can do.”
It was in 2014 that Katrina opened The Plant Pot in her husband’s angling shop on Greenwood Avenue.
She said: “We opened The Plant Pot because my parents had a garden centre and I’d been interested in horticulture since I was a teenager.
“It was fantastic and really busy but we wanted to downsize and specialise in more upmarket products and one of my friends told me there was a unit coming up at Paragon Arcade. I came here with my grandchildren to look at it and we decided it was for me.”
“We needed to make some changes because the previous florist had been there for a long time and with Artisan Flowers I wanted to do different things. We do terrariums, bonsai and all kinds of other plants, house plants and fresh flowers. We supply businesses for their offices – flowers and planters, we talk to the clients and find out what they want.”
After Christmas, Katrina plans to open a consultation suite above the shop so customers can discuss buying flowers for special occasions.
Additionally, she plans to offer workshops in making terrariums and other skills through her two employees, Amy Garden and Izzy Gruczek.
As of late, Paragon Tattoo and Oishii Ne have joined the Paragon Arcade traders, while Out of the Attic and Milchig have doubled in size.
Georgia added:
“We’ve still got The Hispanist, which has been here since 2019, and coming soon we’re adding Chinese street food, one of the best pizza makers in the area and a health bar as well. They are all local, independent businesses bursting with ideas and they’re a great fit with the community we’ve built here.”
