We are really sad to say that out of 10 advertising banners we put up on Saturday afternoon, there are now only 3 left. The rest were stolen by mindless people over a period of 3 nights (3 on Saturday, 3 on Sunday, and 1 last night). This is the equivalent of stealing £500 from our purses.
We are a small independent business and, like many others, are trying to find ways to save money while still advertising our amazing shop. We want to let everyone know about our shop, which promotes independent retail in Leeds. It's a collective of over 60 designers, and offers a static space for many people to sell their wares. Our tenants put so much hard work in to their products and we are really trying to move Bird's Yard forward.
Here are the 10 beautiful banners we put up on Saturday night:
These banners were put up to highlight the amazing independents we have in our store and were placed in this spot on Kirkgate to encourage people walking to and from Leeds City Bus Station to venture down to Bird's Yard and discover what we have to offer. As of today (Tuesday), this is what it looks like:
We are so disappointed that this has happened to us, especially at a time when we were moving forward and helping to keep Leeds' independent retail scene alive.
However, we will now try to make a positive out of a negative and will be using this to increase awareness of the shop and of the independent retailers in Leeds. Please help us name and shame these people who have stolen these banners and ruined a fantastic opportunity to promote everyone in Bird's Yard. We have already contacted the police about this matter and they are doing everything in their power to help us.
What you can do is to tell as many people as possible about this crime and make it known that we will not let this get us down. Please help us by using the power of the internet - Facebook, Twitter, Blogging - to make this into a positive for us. Please also feel free to comment on this post and cause a bit of a stir. Independents need people to pull together and support each other, thank you to everyone who has supported us so far.
We hope you can help.
Bird's Yard x
