First Broomhill, then the world…
Sheffield has many things going for it, but the city is not a great place for interesting, mid-priced men’s fashion. All the more reason to celebrate the success of Inherited, the Broomhill based business set up in May 2012 by Josh Bonney.
The shop stocks a carefully selected range of menswear including trainers, hoodies, T-shirts, (and a small but growing range of womenswear), as well as jewellery, accessories and homeware. Local brands such as Crow and Dunnage, Mamnick, Arcanorum and Edwin Jagger are present alongside Nike and New Balance, and Inherited’s own brand clothing and accessories, all made in England, are also featured.
In September 2014, the next stage of Inherited’s development took place when Inherited Trim was launched next door, a barber’s shop with stylists for European, African and Asian customers. You can get a sharp haircut whilst hanging out, having a beer or coffee and, if the mood takes you, playing a game of FIFA on the large plasma screen. At first glance it might seem a little strange to offer clothing and haircuts under the same roof, but on reflection the combination makes perfect sense. Customers looking for something a little more stylish on the trainer or T-shirt front are also likely to care about their haircuts, and Inherited now caters for both.
Wandering around the expanded shop, there is a real sense of an individual sensibility at work, rather than a retail opportunity number crunched by a corporate, would be hip, chain. Lots of shops sell exclusive trainers, but not many do so alongside retro Russian watches and with a toy polar bear taking pride of place in the window display. Inherited has a distinctive personality, pulling off the neat trick of being both stylish and friendly, and on meeting Josh it’s not hard to see how this has come about. “I wanted a shop that sold premium basics at mid-range prices and where anyone could feel comfortable, rather than have people wondering if they were cool enough to shop here.”
Josh has had an interesting route to running his own business. Leaving school at 16, he was for a time a semi-professional footballer with Goole AFC as well as running the 100m for England U23s. However from the outset his real ambition was to run his own business and he set about gaining as much retail experience as he could, whilst at the same time putting aside enough money to self-fund the venture. He worked in various clothing and food retailers, at one point even holding down three jobs simultaneously. By the time he was 19 he had accumulated enough experience and funding to set up in his own right, and when a friend of a friend mentioned that he had an empty shop premises in Broomhill, Inherited was born.
Josh’s story is the perfect antidote to anyone thinking that the only route to being an entrepreneur requires an MBA, investment from venture capital and endless focus group discussions to identify a viable concept. “Inherited has been set up with the money I saved. It is based around when I like and I know – I’m interested in clothes, I enjoy having my hair cut, and Inherited reflects the kind of places I like spending time in.” Although 50% of sales are through the Inherited website, the shop and barbers provide a real time meeting place and sense of community – how many barbers do you know that have a DJ from 3-6 pm each Friday? The next development will be a monthly ‘Inherited Sounds’ night at SOYO, starting on Friday 30th January. Tickets are available from the shop. As well as being able to sample Josh’s taste in music (funk, neo-soul and deep soulful house), the recently launched Inherited vodka will also be on sale at the venue – triple distilled and made in Yorkshire.
What’s next for Inherited? “I’m looking to clear out the basement under the two shops and set up an Inherited Kitchen by early 2016. The idea is to have a café and deli downstairs, which you will be able to reach by a spiral staircase from the shops.”
Longer term, Josh is aiming to set up similar ‘manhubs’ in different cities across the world and given his progress to date, it would be a brave man to bet against him. So – remember where you heard this first – when Inherited achieves global domination, you can gain hip credibility by talking about how you used to hang out at the original shop in Broomhill.
Finally, just in case Josh sounds like one of those annoying people who are both nice and good at everything, he’s not perfect – on our first visit to the shop, my thirteen year old son thrashed him at FIFA.
Inherited – 475 Glossop Road, Broomhill, Sheffield S10 2QE
Words: David Edwards.
Images courtesy of Inherited.
