Streets ahead on the Shrewsbury shopping scene

The couple, who hail from Shropshire, opened their new store, It's A Nomad Life, in September, and business is booming.

But their story is not simply one about a new business opening in Shropshire: it symbolises a bigger picture. Two years ago, Wyle Cop – arguably the county's premier shopping street – was struggling. Businesses were leaving, there were a number of empty shops and trade was slack.

Now, happily, it's a different story. The street, which forms the historic gateway to Shrewsbury town centre, is thriving. A number of new stores have opened in the past year, while some have moved to bigger units on the street.

Traders hope that the upturn in fortunes will be sustained. They believe that after four years of downturn and recession, Shrewsbury is on the way back up.

Department giant Debenhams has now confirmed its plans to open a new flagship store, which will create 100 jobs. The 95,000 sq ft retail space will the centrepiece of the new £150 million redevelopment of the Riverside Shopping Centre. That development will join together the existing Riverside, Pride Hill and Charles Darwin malls and also offer office space, 10 restaurants and cafes.

Sam says: "We grew up in Shropshire and left to go to university, then travelled the world for a few years. I worked in the Caribbean and Canada. We decided to come back home and we've both always been fascinated by antiques.

"We came back in 2009. There was no prospect of opening a shop then, so I worked for another antiques dealer until April 2011. Then I decided to do my own thing and I started building the website. We'd trade at fairs around the country at weekends. When the website went live, we started selling there, and through eBay.

"We found a place that we liked just as we were about to go on holiday to America and it was on Wyle Cop. We put in an offer but it was rejected, so we went on holiday and thought nothing of it. Then we got a phone call at 4am in the morning, saying we could take the shop. We didn't have to think twice.

"Wyle Cop was always where we wanted to be. We knew it is the premier shopping street in Shrewsbury. We looked at a couple of other shops in Shrewsbury but it's known for its quirky, individual stores. And, from our experience, it is very much on the way back up."

Lucy Hinds, proprietor of Ella Cru, an independent boutique on Wyle Cop, has noticed a big upswing in the town's fortunes during her two years of trading. She said stories of doom and gloom had no place in Shrewsbury, which was enjoying a definite upswing.

She said: "October is supposed to be my busiest month, and it has been. We were very, very busy. We opened two years ago, primarily selling shoes for women. We aim to be fabulous and frivolous; people don't come to us because they need shoes, they come to us because they want shoes.

"We've been able to diversify by selling handmade men's shoes and also coats and scarves from UK manufactures. We buy local, where possible.

For instance, we have a stockist from Cleobury Mortimer, called Claudia, who supplies beautiful scarves, gilets, coats and jackets.

"So far this winter, we've been run off our feet. I think there is a real feelgood factor about Shrewsbury. It's not just the shops selling antiques, clothes, chocolates and other bits and pieces that are doing well. We've also seen a number of new restaurants open in recent times. Wyle Cop, and Shrewsbury at large, are enjoying a good time."

Interestingly, many of Ella Cru's customers travel to Shrewsbury from far afield. "At first, we'd get mostly locals and tourists. But we've seen a new market emerge over the past two years. We now get a lot of people from Chester and Cheshire who travel to Shrewsbury just to go shopping.

"Shrewsbury has overtaken Chester in the past year or two, it's seems to have become much better than Cheshire and people now travel to us."

The area is continuing to welcome new outlets, including Henry Tudor House, a restaurant and bar, which opened last week, and new indepedent coffee shop, Stop, just off the Cop in St Julian's Crescent.

Local trader Jim Littler, who manages the Lion and Pheasant, a hotel and restaurant at the foot of Wyle Cop, believes the town is on the rise.

Mr Littler says: "Wyle Cop is a great place to be. We've certainly seen good trade during the past two years. You tend to find that a lot of traders deal with one another, to keep the spend inside our town. So, for instance, when we were opening the hotel, we worked a lot with the Period House Shop, getting furniture from them, as well as with Feather and Black, who supplied our beds and bedding.

"One of the traders got married between Christmas and New Year and we hosted that; we all tend to get along very well and the area is very vibrant at the moment. We've outstripped all of the targets that we had when we opened two years ago."