Nub News is devoted to local business - we want our high street to thrive.

In this new feature, we get behind-the-scenes insights into new businesses as they set-up-shop in Penarth.

Rarely before has the nation's business landscape seemed a gloomier place.

But, according to Jodie Tanner and Alex Mules, fortune favours the fabulous.

Together they have taken over 9 & 10 Washington Buildings, a collaboration intent on bringing Christmas cheer to Penarth at this difficult time.

Go Festive, "The Harrods of Penarth", will open on the 24th. Meet the people behind it.

Jo

Jodie Tanner belongs to the handful of people in Penarth who hardly need an introduction.

The larger than life owner of Queen B (Go Festive's neighbour) reached near-viral levels of renown over lockdown with the zany product promotional videos she released to spread a bit of joy.

She has been a central feature of the high street for over 10 years.

"Queen B was born 11 years ago and before that I spent 25 years in banking," she tells Nub News. "It started as a shoe shop as a hobby. 11 years on we sell everything from a £10 t-shirt to a £1000 mother of the bride outfit and everything in between.

"We started off here at Number 8 and then we knocked through to Number 7. Then we moved to Barry to start up there too. Go Festive is my latest baby, conceived with a friend who is the best person on earth at spreading sparkle at Christmastime."

Alex

Enter Alex Mules.

Alex is Penarth born and bred. His first venture here was ETC..., which brought conceptual fusion cuisine to Penarth.

"When that opened everyone was like: 'Oh my God what is this?'," he says. "It was completely different and overnight it was a massive success. We were fully-booked for 18 weeks.

"I opened it in the April and our first Christmas there was out of this world. Honestly it looked like Harrods in there… dazzling."

Alex currently runs AM Interiors By Design, whose clients range from local businesses to national celebrities.

Jodie and Alex have been friends for many years now. Alex designed the interior of Jodie's Penarth house and last year also helped spruce up Queen B.

"Fast forward to this Spring and Jodie and I are having a few drinks…"

"Quite a few drinks," interrupts Jo.

"… and we just thought 'the ETC Christmas thing worked amazingly then, and what Jodie does at the moment with Queen B works now, so let's do a Christmas shop that fuses the two. What could possibly go wrong?'"

Lockdown

Jodie has always had her eye on 9 & 10 Washington Buildings.

"I've said for years now that as soon as those units come onto the market I'm going to buy them. Then they were offered to me during the darkest days of lockdown and I had to take a bit of a pause.

"But then I just thought to myself 'I've been taking risks throughout lockdown, why stop now?'"

Penarth's independent businesses have exhibited extraordinary resilience since lockdown began. Queen B is no exception.

"I just flicked into survival mode. I didn't get stressed about the wedding season being effectively cancelled because I couldn't afford to. So I parked up that side of the business and didn't let it bring my energy down. That freed me up so I could get the rest of the business to survive and thrive. It's a mindset thing.

"I took the business home, started selling through Facebook and delivering to my customers. We would deliver ourselves locally and then use a courier service to reach far flung places like France, Spain, Scotland, Abu Dhabi.

"I've not crunched the numbers but we're doing great! It got to the point where we couldn't deal with the orders quickly enough, and the whacky videos and charity stuff we did really gave things a boost and helped get the word out.

"It also helped people suffering with mental health issues during lockdown. The amount of people who have come in now is crazy! That gave me a lot of faith to think the Christmas shop would be a success too."

A Weird Christmas

This year's will be a Christmas like never before. Coronavirus has erected a barrier between families and economic uncertainty casts a dark shadow.

But, with typical optimism, Jodie and Alex are confident that this is the perfect time to open their Christmas shop.

"Well there'll be two extremes of people," explains Jodie. "Sure, some will say 'what's the point decorating and getting really into Christmas when we might all be apart', but then the other extreme will be people who'll say: 'bugger it. It's been a terrible year so let's go all out' and we'd be appealing to those really obsessed with Christmas anyway."

"We're there to provide a luscious Christmas," adds Alex. "Think Bond Street during holiday season. The Christmas window will be inviting you into our sparkling Christmas emporium."

"If it razzles and dazzles, Alex will supply it," chimes in Jodie. "And then on my part, we're talking typical Christmas gifts - your jumpers, your pyjamas, your pashminas, jumpers, purses, baubles.

"People crave that designer piece but don't want to be paying that £500 upwards. We can supply it for £25. We have a good buying eye."

"We've ordered beautiful packaging too. It'll be that luxurious feel without that ridiculous Harrod's price tag.

"The people of Penarth will need a bit of Christmas cheer after the year we've all had. We want to provide that."

Join Nub News for Go Festive's opening on 24 October.