Abakhan 'Saturday girl' to director at family firm that continues to grow
Abakhan is one of those businesses that seem synonymous with North Wales – the fabric, wool and crafting retailer has been at its coastal site in Mostyn, Flintshire for more than 40 years.
The Mostyn store, which bears the family name, is actually one of eight, and soon to be nine, across the UK, with a further 13 in the Baltic states.
Beth Abakhan, 36, is marketing director of the firm and has worked full time in the business for 15 years after a short stint in London working in the marketing department of NCP Car Parks.
Prior to that she had grown up as a ‘Saturday girl’ working in the shop.
“I always knew I would work in the business,” Beth explains.
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“My family have memories of me standing on a table in the shop and announcing to the customers ‘I’m Beth Abakhan Rugs’.
“My father insisted that I work somewhere else before Abakhan, but I always wanted to be part of the family firm.”
The company started as a rug making business run by Beth’s Russian grandfather Michael with her father Nick.
Nick used to travel around the UK sourcing fabric waste and offcuts to make hand woven rugs on a loom and its from there the fabric side developed.
Today the company still sells the remnants it became famous for, along with wools, and craft supplies and has even become the leading supplier in the area for high-end Liberty Fabrics.
In 2014 the Mostyn site had a £1m refurbishment adding a large café and a gift shop.
Until his death in 2014, Nick remained at the helm, working with his brother-in-law Nick Powell, who is still MD of the firm.
Nick has been pivotal in developing and moving the company forward to where it is today.
Online expansion
Alongside its shops, the company also trades online, with Beth’s brother Will Abakhan heading up the digital side.
The website has recently been refreshed and now includes around 25,000 products, helping the company extend its reach beyond North Wales and the North West.
“This is an important part of the business and we see the website as a store in itself on equal footing with any of our other UK shops,” Beth said.
“The number of customers shopping online is growing year on year, it has extended our customer reach, but we also find ‘hotspots’ around the areas we have stores, so there are plans to launch a ‘click and collect’ service.”
Still building stores
The physical stores are still very much a focus of the business as the family are aware that fabric buying relies so much on feel and close inspection.
They will opening a ninth shop in Altrincham this spring, it’s first new opening since 2008.
“The site is far enough away from our Manchester store to stand on its own feet, it’s also close to an artisan market in an area that’s had a lot of investment,” Beth said.
“We’ve been looking for a new site for a while and we’re confident this will work well.”
A focus on remnants, end of line and discount fabrics helped Abakhan grow to its current size, but the company now also stocks famous brands.
Just recently it became an official stockist of high-end Liberty Fabrics.
“We do stock brands and luxury fabrics, like Liberty, but you will still find bargain bags of cloth and haberdashery and discount fabrics,” Beth adds.
Weekly demonstrations
Alongside selling fabrics, yarns and crafting goods, the stores aim to educate customers.
Each one runs near-weekly demonstrations of sewing, knitting and crafting, while Abakhan in Mostyn and Liverpool host a huge number of sewing and craft classes, from beginners who want to understand how a sewing machine works through to quilting, embroidery and even up-cycling furniture with chalk paints.
All classes are run by professional tutors, which include former contestants of The Great British Sewing Bee.
“The classes and demonstrations are really there to add value to our customers, it’s not something that we make money on,” Beth said.
“They are popular and it helps people to learn a new skill or get more out of their hobby.”
Looking to the future, Abakhan is a company that continues to grow.
In the near future, the website will showcase 35,000 products, while the company plans to expand its store network from its North Wales and North West heartland into the Midlands.
