“I know it’s a cliché word but people are just nice. A lot of people want to put back into the area.”
13:28, 05 Jul 2025Updated 13:31, 05 Jul 2025
Betty Morris at Mon Petit Choux bakery on Aigburth Road (Image: Iain Watts/Liverpool ECHO)
A small stretch of Aigburth Road has seen independent businesses taking off at rapid rate in the past few years. Though some took the plunge as recently as 18 months ago, others have stood firmly for three years plus.
While the stretch has long been home to family-run shops such as the 65-year-old Bread Shop Bakery, newer faces on the block are now seeing the area become a thriving hub for small businesses. Georgia Sharp, 36, is the owner of the T Parlour tattoo shop which sits on the stretch of main road in the green and residential area.
Georgia, who lived in south Liverpool for 13 years before moving to Walton, said: “This parade didn’t used to be as nice as it is now but in the past five years it has become desirable.
“We also have a lot of passing trade here because it’s a main road. Even when people stop at traffic lights they see us. There’s a high footfall, and it also helps that there is free parking nearby as well as the road being accessible by bus and train.
“This is the coolest part of Liverpool. It’s green, spacious, quiet and the houses are nice. I know it’s a cliché word but people are just nice. A lot of people want to put back into the area.”
Speaking of how other areas might be inspired by the change, Georgia added: “You’ve just got to move and hope people follow suit. Hopefully it will inspire similar areas to fill their units. I think here is just going to keep going up.”
A few stores down at Sunday x The Flower Bar, Erin Campbell, 27, runs a coffee shop alongside her mum and florist, Karen Campbell, 59.
Sunday x The Flower Bar on Aigburth Road (Image: Iain Watts/Liverpool ECHO )
Erin said: “We didn’t know what it would be like here. We took a gamble and its the best thing we ever did.”
Erin opened in May 2023 shortly after the T Parlour. She describes seeing the success of other business that opened at a similar time, including Naples pizza shop and Mon Choux bakery as “reassuring”, with businesses each benefitting from increased footfall and local custom.
“Before Mon Choux people went to Lark Lane for coffee,” a Sunday customer says. “It’s nice to have something closer to here without needing to walk around the park to Lark Lane.
“It’s such a residential area but it was missing a bakery and coffee shops. I think Sunday has created a hub. People come in here and regulars get to know each other. It creates community.”
Sunday are now the busiest they’ve ever been and have recently been able to hire two staff after running the business seven days a week without help for the first 18 months.
Occupying the corner store location down the road is arts shop and workshop space, Clever Hands, run by Catherine Carmyllie.
Having started the business ten years ago from her bedroom, Catherine, 45, now sees her DIY art kits sold to companies such as Google and Air BnB as well as working with local scale charity initiatives such as The Big Trust . She also has client base among local residents and provides sessions from crochet classes for foster carers, to crafty children’s birthday parties.
She told the ECHO: We have a lot of returning and loyal customers. People say in feels like family in here.”
Catherine outside Clever Hands (Image: Iain Watts/Liverpool ECHO )
“There’s still room for growth,” she says of the stretch. “Customers come looking for hardware supplies that the high street doesn’t have. People don’t want to go into the city. I’d also love it if there was a deli or a green grocers.”
The stretch of road sees nail bars, a barber shop, sit-in cafes, an interiors store, community food group as well an off license and a Bargain Booze. Though despite its charms, it seems it is not seen as a go-to for all seeking a practical high street.
Speaking to a barber at the top of the road, competition with the city centre and the multitude of other barber shops in the area is seeing slow business reported.
Though for hospitality businesses such as cafes and restaurants the high street seems to be only on the rise. Mon Choux opened on the stretch nearly three years ago and is said to have queues out the door on Saturdays and Sundays.
Like many others, shop owner and baker Betty Morris, 32, landed on the stretch while seeking a permanent space after operating from home during lockdown. “I knew I wanted somewhere residential. We took a gamble here when there wasn’t much going on.
“But more places popped up and its now getting more and more buzzing, especially in the past six months with the new pizza shops that have opened up. It only takes a couple of places to start doing well for things to snowball.”
Naples pizza shop (Image: Iain Watts/Liverpool ECHO )
Mon Choux also describes a dedicated customer base with lots of familiar faces coming in. “People tell their friends so it spreads through word of mouth. It’s nice to be set apart from Lark Lane and Allerton Road.”
With the growing success of food and drink businesses, this south Liverpool stretch seems set to grow as a bustling independent scene and a much appreciated alternative Saturday morning hotspot for residents.