Gadget Shop founder launches retail venture at Hull’s Fruit Market

Two serial entrepreneurs are going ‘back to the future’ to open a corner shop with a difference in Hull’s Fruit Market urban village.

Retail and tech pioneer Jonathan Elvidge, best known for founding the Gadget Shop, has joined forces with Phil Benson, who has run a series of drinks, food and catering businesses, to launch the venture.

The duo said they had felt for some time that the fast-evolving Fruit Market area needed a store providing essential items for its growing community.

The Store on Pier Street is located on the ground-floor of former fish filleting premises off Humber Street.

Customers will be able to buy locally-sourced fruit and vegetables, bread, milk, eggs, meat, fish, cured meats and cheeses, including organic produce, as well as larder items such as soup, beans and oils, and kitchen and bathroom essentials.

The shop will also stock a range of ready meals as well as craft beers and speciality wines and spirits.

The store opens tomorrow (July 5) and has created four full and part-time jobs.

Elvidge said: “We love the Fruit Market area – there’s a real energy about the place and it’s great to be part of it. This feel like a missing piece of the jigsaw.

“Our thinking was ‘there’s a real need here and everybody’s talking about it, but nobody’s doing it, so why don’t we?’ Between us we have a combination of retail, hospitality and customer-facing skills and experience, so why not bring them together?

“This concept feels like a really natural fit and the time is right with lots of new residents moving into the area soon.

“It will be an enjoyable place to shop in a nice environment, with great service. That combination can create something quite special.”

The venture marks a return to retail for the Hull-based entrepreneur.

Elvidge launched the Gadget Shop with one store in Hull’s Princes Quay shopping centre and, at its peak under his management, it had 45 branches across the UK.

Among other ventures, Elvidge later returned to the gadget retail sector by co-founding Red5, which was sold recently in a multi-million pound deal.

Since then he has shifted focus and become a director and co-founder of health tech start-up Moodbeam, based at the Centre for Digital Innovation (C4DI) tech hub in the Fruit Market.

Moodbeam is developing a wearable device to track moods and provide valuable insights into mental health and wellbeing.

Benson brings a wealth of experience in the catering and hospitality sector to the business.

He was the co-founder of Xing Smoothies, launched the Shambles Kitchen street food outlet in York, owns The Drinks Flight corporate hospitality and events business, and ran the café and catering operation at Humber Street Gallery during Hull’s year as UK City of Culture 2017.

He said: “We’re offering something new – it will have elements of a traditional farm shop, merged with a convenience store and off-licence offer, which makes it more interesting to visit and browse.

“It’s a traditional model, but done in a different way. In many ways it’s back to the future and reflects how things have come full circle.”

Tom Watson, developer surveyor for Wykeland, speaking on behalf of Wykeland Beal, said: “We were delighted when Jonathan and Phil came to us with their concept for a convenience store to serve the growing community in the Fruit Market and we’ve been very happy to work with them to make it a reality.

“Only a few years ago the Fruit Market was largely deserted – now there are hundreds of people working in the area, a host of new businesses and a residential community taking shape. That’s created pent-up demand for a store just like this.”