A ROMSEY businessman has said he has "high hopes" for the future after expanding into womenswear. 

Nick Michell launched his second Cavendish store in Bell Street on Thursday, September 1 having enjoyed a successful few years in his popular menswear shop just across the road.

Speaking after a fruitful first week, he said: "Everything just clicked into place really, it was a good launch day. We have done a bit of a refit in the shop and it's looking fantastic. The staff are great and we enjoyed a fantastic weekend trading, and with Romsey Show I'm expecting this week to be good as well - especially with the style of products we sell."

Hampshire Chronicle: MP Caroline Nokes stopped by MP Caroline Nokes stopped by (Image: Cavendish)

Mr Michell, 46, opened Cavendish in 2014, but admitted menswear has been somewhat of a lifelong profession having first started in the industry when he was just 18.

After a few comments from female customers about the potential for branching out, he said he started to have a "vision" for his new boutique.

"At least every week we had women coming into the shop saying how lucky their husbands were to have a shop like this, and what they would give to have a similar shop dedicated for them," he said. "A lot of the brands we were already working with had popular women's ranges, so it made sense.

"I've been in menswear all my life, so I've gone from thinking, 'oh, that's never going to happen', to, 'actually, I can see that working'. So, I started to have a vision. The best thing about our shop is we have an on-site tailoring department, so if anyone needs their jeans hemmed on something taken in we can do it on the premises. If you drew a 60 mile radius of Romsey, there's no one else offering a service like that in a clothing shop - especially to our standard of service."

Hampshire Chronicle: Cavendish Womenswear Cavendish Womenswear (Image: Cavendish)

Conveniently placed directly opposite his existing shop, Mr Michell first put an offer in for the unit in March 2020, admitting he felt "lucky" it wasn't successful after Covid struck less than a month later.

After it once again became available a few weeks ago, he said it was an opportunity too good to turn down.

"We're absolutely thrilled with it," he added. "I'm so proud to be associated with Bell Street. It's such a lovely road and it's the place to be to sell clothing. It's a draw for so many people and we have really high hopes."

Mr Michell said he spent £40,000 on the refit alone, which included knocking through a wall in the stockroom to create a larger, more open shop floor. He has also taken on four new staff to help with the expanding operation.

"It's a major outlay, and of course in these difficult times when energy prices and inflation are going through the roof people are going to have a lot less money in their pocket," he said.

"It seems a bit of a risky thing to do to expand your business in the current climate, but I've got such a confident feeling that we're going to do well. These properties don't come up very often so you have to jump in when you see them."

Although Bell Street isn't blessed with an abundance of passing trade, Mr Michell says he can rely on a loyal customer base who travel from as far as Poole, Portsmouth and Petersfield to shop in his store.

He said: "In this day and age to have all that good will is incredible. I think it speaks volumes for our customer service."

Cavendish is open seven days a week and sells formal wear, shoes, hats, suits, jumpers, coats and accessories.