The shop, which opened in early 2014 after local resident Sean Gerrie invested all his life savings into starting up the business, is located at 61 Side, at the bottom of Dean Street. Just a short walk from Tyne Bridge and Newcastle Castle, the small independent business is ideally placed to attract tourists and local people who are looking to gift something a little different. It quickly became a Newcastle institution and Sean has expanded to take additional space to run a second shop, called Souvenirs Upon Tyne, and an adjoining coffee shop space.

UpSide Down Presents will celebrate Arch Day 2021 with a special event named Side by Side. It will encourage local people to support local businesses and artists by standing together with them and shopping with them on Arch Day. Sean will turn the outdoor yard at 6 Dean Street into a ‘Yarden’ with a decking area, plants and outdoor seating created as a new addition to his arch space. Discounts and free gifts will be available on purchases made in the two gift shops on the day and half price hot and cold drinks will be on sale in the coffee shop. Sean is also running a special competition offering the chance to win a specially commissioned, personalised pet portrait by a local photographic artist.

The activities that will be taking place at 61 Side and Dean Street are supported by a grant provided by The Arch Company, through its Arch Day 2021 match-funding scheme.

Sean said: “We were over the moon to find out that we were successful in our application for the Arch Day grant. It will help us to make our Arch Day 2021 activities much bigger and better than they otherwise would have been. Arch Day is a really good, positive event that helps to raise awareness of our business and it’s great to have this kind of collaboration between small businesses and big landlords.

“Coming off the back of the pandemic, footfall has been down, and this kind of promotional activity helps to support us with encouraging people to shop locally and buy independently. It’s really important to us to collaborate with other small businesses. We stock more than 50 local suppliers, crafters and creatives, so shopping with us helps create a chain reaction that supports lots of other small businesses in our area. Every penny spent, or kind word of mouth recommendation, and social share genuinely makes such a difference to small independent businesses like mine. We all love variety and choice, and what better way to maintain it than to #loveyourlocalarches, helping to support our wonderful small businesses.”

Bottom of Dean St, Newcastle upon Tyne

61side.co.uk

@61side