"A place where customers are made to feel welcome."

Chris Baldwin is the brains behind this amazing new shop, which is filled with wonderful nostalgic and fashion items of days gone.

The store was originally located in St Annes Hospice Charity Shop in Commercial Street, but has recently moved to a new venue, and is now situated opposite Kaspas Dessert Restaurant.

The move to bigger premises was necessary to keep up with the high demand of more choice from its legion of customers.

“I opened on January 3 in St Annes as a pop-up, and the business literally exploded,” said Chris.

“Newport was in dire need of a genuine vintage shop, a place where customers could feel welcome and not judged on individual style and tastes – hopefully we have achieved just that.

“The shop is an eclectic mix of clothing, homewares, toys and games, jewellery and electronics – not everything is on display and shoppers are encouraged to find hidden gems tucked away in drawers or containers.

“I’m fortunate to be working with some great people too in the store, such as Sugar and Lemon who offer 80s and 90s urban street wear, Beth Munro who makes vintage-style children’s clothing, and stylist Rowena Tasker, who has Trims and Pins at the back of the emporium who specialises in 1940s, 50s and 60s hair.

“Moving forward I’m hoping to turn this space into a communal hub, where like-minded people can get together and enjoy live entertainment and themed events, such as art exhibitions and craft fairs.

“It’s about bringing people together and getting them involved.”

Trims and Pins, Hair by Rowena

Rowena Tasker is a professional hairdresser with 15 years’ experience, being trained at Tony & Guy in London, and running her own mobile business for many years.

It was a chance meeting with Chris Baldwin of Black Bear Vintage Emporium, where they got talking about similar interests and the idea of collaborating at Chris’ new venue.

Rowena specialises in hairstyles from the 40s, 50s and 60s, and can transform you into a pinup bombshell with ease.

Not only does she offer cuts and styling for women, she also offers her unique talents to men and children too – with toddlers being able to take a seat in Brum, a purpose-built toy car seat from the popular children’s TV show.

Rowena additionally offers vintage style pampering parties, great for hen dos and also children’s birthday parties – call for more details.

Black Bear Vintage Emporium

61 Commercial Street, Newport NP20 1LQ

07800 923745