THE long-awaited opening of a new Hobbycraft store in Taunton was confirmed four years ago this week.

The store, on the Deane Retail Park, welcomed crafty shoppers from Tuesday, September 22, 2020.

It had been due to open earlier that year, but was delayed due to the coronavirus crisis.

The store created 16 new jobs in the area, following more than 160 applications for a variation of roles.

And customers got a sneak preview of the new store on the Hobbycraft Facebook page on Monday, September 21, when store manager Tina and seasonal buyer Samantha Shiers hosted a Facebook Live to showcase the new store and the newly-launched Christmas range.

Store manager Tina said at the time: “We are really looking forward to opening the doors to our Taunton store and share our passion for arts and crafts with the community.

"We’ve been working really hard to ensure that the store will be packed full of the most exciting crafting products, which will help our customers create handmade masterpieces, while keeping in line with the new government guidelines.

"Our new colleagues are all dedicated crafters and are ready to inspire and share their knowledge with locals of all crafting abilities.”

A range of safety measures for Covid-19 were in place when the store opened.

The store opened in line with Government guidelines at the time, with a queue system, limited customers in the store, and customers being asked to make contactless card payments.

On opening day crafting experts were on hand to help, including papercraft expert Ellie who specialises in cricut, sewing expert Kim who has a passion for quilting, and Tracey, the in-store cross stitch expert.