Leather goods store Fedele Oxford welcomes back international tourists

The new business got off to a good start in December 2018, and its bags and other leather goods flew off the shelves in time for Christmas.

The unit opened in half of what used to be the Helen & Douglas House charity shop unit.

It is next door to the Oxford Soap Company, which opened in the space next door the previous month.

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The city council is landlord of the market and it has been employing a policy of splitting large empty units to attract new tenants.

After a promising first year, like all other businesses, Fedele Oxford got a shock when the pandemic hit.

But it managed to survive the inevitable effect on its trade and its co-owners, Hamim Rahman and Jaf D’Souza, are feeling positive about the future.

Mr D’Souza said: “October in the Covered Market has been busy so far - the footfall has been good.

“When travel stopped there were no tourists from other countries.

“I think we are starting to see some international tourists returning which is very positive.

“The beauty of the Covered Market is that it is all independent traders - you wouldn’t be able to find them elsewhere in the city.

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“Earlier this year I think the effects of the pandemic were still being felt but trade is definitely picking up now.”

Mr D’Sousza said the store chooses the leather it needs to create its own bags, which range in price from £12 to £400.

And it pays great attention to detail, to ensure it sources the best zips and accessories.

Staff at the store are now fielding enquiries from customers who want top quality bags which will last but are not made from animal skin.

Mr D’Souza said they were working hard to source some ‘vegan leather’ products to cater for the growing number of requests from customers.

Vegan leather is a material that mimics leather, but is created from artificial or plant products instead of animal skins.

He added: “You can make bags and backpacks of mushrooms, pineapples and mangos with a durability of about four to 12 years.

“The price point is more expensive than natural leather and that reflects the manufacturing process.

“We stock about 89 different bags at the moment and if we had a bigger unit we would stock more.”

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In July, Fedele Oxford welcomed Lord Mayor Mark Lygo to celebrate Independents Day, which highlights the work of independent traders. Independents’ Day on July 4 encouraged shoppers to ‘buy local’ and support their local independent stores, rather than visiting chain stores or shopping online.

Mr D’Souza said at the time: “We invited the mayor to encourage people to buy local and to make people aware that the Covered Market has so much to offer, with more than 50 traders.”