Meet the people who have opened up new Hereford shop

Crosskeys Stores is run by Paul Beale and Craig Stanton, who have taken over the former Hawkin's Bazaar shop in Trinity Square, by Maylord Orchard Shopping Centre.

Many people in the city will be familiar with their work due to them having a market stall in High Town.

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"We also do shows all over the country, like at steam rallies, but we wanted to give it a go and avoid packing up every night and standing in the cold and wet," said Mr Stanton," who worked 

"We do firepits, which is what started it off, as well as plaques which we can personalise. We also do a lot of 'Lest We Forget' stuff.

Craig Stanton with some of the military plaques on sale (Image: Rob Davies)

"We've both been fabricators all of our life and did apprenticeships when he was 16.

"We mainly did steel structures, but for three years we've been doing this kind of stuff."

Hawkin's Bazaar closed in Hereford in 2020 after the toy and gift retailer went into administration.

Mr Stanton said the plan is to keep the shop open as long as possible.

Crosskeys Stores replaces the former Hawkin's Bazaar shop (Image: Rob Davies)

"We've taken it on for a couple of months initially to see if it will work. 

"It's a part of Hereford where there's more shops that actually sell things than in the middle of town.

"Maylords have worked hard to fill the units and get things going.

"We opened on Wednesday and had quite a lot of people come in," said Mr Stanton.

"They were encouraged and said they'd come in to have a look and will come back to buy something."