A Gosport man who was made redundant has started his own school uniform shop after stumbling across an advert on social media.
Ashley Adams, known as Ash, was perusing social media when an advert for a box of school uniform popped up. Having conducted some research, he took the plunge and ordered it before heading off to car boot sales to see if there was interest.
He has now opened School Smart in Stoke Road, Gosport, stocking a range of non-logo school uniform in various sizes, as well as school essentials such as stationery, rucksacks and water bottles.
Ash said: “We sell a whole range of school uniform, non logo essentials. It is all surplus stock from Asda so we are saving it from going to waste. The key thing is that you can buy single items. You don’t have to replace one pair of trousers with a pack of three trousers half way through the term.”
As the new school year approaches, Ash has been delighted with the response from customers after starting the new business.
He said: “I was made redundant from my job and got fed up working for big companies that treat you like dirt. I happened to see an advert on Facebook for a box of school uniform and I bought it and did a couple of car boot sales. I then saw this shop was up for let and I went over and got it. No plan, just in for a penny in for a pound, all in, I just went for it.”
When putting the permanent shop together ahead of opening, Ash was as resourceful as possible.
He said: “Everything in the shop is recycled. The counter came from a builders skip, some of the table legs came from a wall partition of the Barclay’s Bank when they were doing that out. Then we have pallets on the wall used for display so it is all recycled materials. It means I don’t have to pass any costs onto the customer whatsoever.
School Smart is open from Tuesday to Friday 10am to 6pm and 10am to 4.30pm on Saturdays. Ash said: “Come down and support a local business”.
See inside School Smart in the pictures below:
1. School Smart
Ashley Adams (49) has opened a school uniform shop called School Smart in Stoke Road, Gosport. | Sarah Standing
2. School Smart
The shop buys surplus stock from supermarkets and is able to offer good prices and sell as single items. | Sarah Standing
3. School Smart
As well as uniforms, School Smart stocks a range of stationary and rucksacks. | Sarah Standing
