HIGH PATCHED
STAR of The Repair Shop Jay Blades has opened his first shop and some of the furniture for sale comes with a hefty price tag.
The store Jay & Co in Poole, Dorset, opened its doors earlier this week with more than 100 people waiting in line to see what was on offer.
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The BBC star and his business partner, furniture craftsman Steve Wyatt, specialise in restoring pieces into trendy furniture using recycled, reclaimed and reused material.
A previously stained and scuffed wooden sideboard which has been lovingly restored is now on sale for £1,895.
Once shabby looking bar stools which now have a splash of colour and stylish black frames retail for £350 each.
Worn armchairs that were once covered in dated fabrics have been given a new lease of life thanks to reupholstery techniques and now cost as much as £1,500.
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The new shop also has 50 chairs, sofas, lamps as well as other homeware items for sale.
Cushions cost between £60 and £90.
Fans of The Repair Shop can also buy a signed Jay Blades' signature leather apron for as much as £260.
Jay, 53, who previously ran an online business selling restored furniture, is hoping his new venture will help bring life to Britain’s struggling high street.
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The star of The Repair Shop, who has fronted the hit BBC One show since 2017, said he wanted to show that “the high street is not dead” and hopes other businesses will follow his example.
He told at the opening: “Restoring furniture is like restoring yourself.
“If you see a broken, knackered chair and you're able to fix it, put stuff into it, paint it, glue it, screw another leg on it, put some fabric on it, give it that unique twist.
“Nobody should be put on the scrap heap. We all have a use. You just need certain things put into you in order to shine.”
The restoration expert set up the business with Steve, who was trained in upcycling furniture via Jay’s charity Out of the Dark, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
Jay added: “The amount of people who have come is surreal and overwhelming. It's crazy.
“It's unbelievable the impact The Repair Shop has had on people. I've opened a shop because I wanted to show that the high street is not dead, it can still thrive.”
The new store looks set to become Jay’s latest triumph.
The star had earlier welcomed King Charles to his workshop and he received an MBE last year.
He was brought up by his mum, Barbara, on a council estate in Hackney, East London, after his father abandoned them.
Jay then became involved in gang culture after he left school without any qualifications and ended up homeless in his twenties and suffered a mental breakdown.
He’s now a dad-of-three and married to Lisa-Marie Zbozen, a fitness trainer.
Jay said he could have fitted all his possessions into just one carrier bag when he lived in a hostel, before being given social housing on the Victorian Peabody estate.
Suffering from dyslexia and unable to read, it was only when he turned 51 that he began to tackle his illiteracy problem – after he’d found fame on the show.
Steve, 45, has also experienced being homeless as well as a 22-year-drug addiction and time behind bars.
Jay said: “There is no reason why other people can't do what Steve and I have done here.
"But it's special to do this with Steve because I've known him a really long time.”
Steve said: “I started restoring things and Jay said to me, 'What can you do differently?' and here it is. Our shop.”
Foster carer and a Repair Shop fan, Sue Dickson, who had queued up to meet the TV star said: “I think he's brilliant and it is great for the area that he has brought his shop to Poole.”
Steve said: “Jay and I were sat next to each other on Monday and I said wow, this is the proudest day of my life.
“There's been lots of interest and we've sold three or four pieces, but as word gets out and people tell their friends about us business should pick up.
“We want to target people from London who have second homes down here and need furniture for their homes.”
Many visitors to the shop said they had gone along because they were fans of the TV show.
Nurse Kathleen Sheret, 62, said: “I love the Repair Shop and I'm gutted I missed the shop opening.
"I think the stuff in here is adorable and the chairs are stunning.”
Nearly 300 episodes of The Repair Shop have aired which sees a team of craftspeople restore any item members of the pubic bring in.
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When King Charles visited last year, as part of the BBC’s centenary celebrations, he bought in an 18th century bracket clock and a ceramic antique made for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
The show is filmed in a barn at Weald & Downland Living Museum in West Sussex although the public isn’t allowed entry when filming takes place.
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