FOCUS FEATURE


Even as a celebrated site that dates back 235 years, Masson Mills is not immune to society’s – and retail’s – rapidly-changing landscape. Karen Knighton (pictured), part of the Marketing and Events team at Masson Mills, looks at the challenges facing retail outlets and explains how the shopping village has and is constantly evolving to meet the needs of a 21st Century customer base to enable it to flourish long into the future.


Masson Mills were cotton yarn-producing mills from 1783 all the way up to relatively recently, at which point they were the oldest continuously working mills in the entire world; however production ceased in the Cotton Mill in 1991. However, this did not see the end to Masson Mills.


History is a process which is still going on and Masson Mills has been sympathetically refurbished to continue life in many different guises to enable it to remain both current and popular – notably as a shopping village, working textile museum, licensed restaurant and conference and exhibition centre; thereby continuing the spirit of enterprise which originally engendered the mills. Richard Arkwright originally built Masson Mills as his


showpiece, stand-out mill way back in the 18th Century. The fact that these beautifully-restored and internationally- famous Grade II listed buildings are the Gateway to the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site and can still be enjoyed to this day is testament to Masson Mills’ enduring legacy. Set in six acres, Masson Mills is located over the banks


of the River Derwent in the picturesque town of Matlock Bath, a village situated south of Matlock on the A6, in Derbyshire.


52 business network December 2018/January 2019 The Retail sector has changed tremendously in recent years


What does the future hold for


Masson Mills Shopping


Village and the retail sector?


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