A NEW Hobbycraft store is set to open next month.

The new store in Portfield Retail Park, Chichester, will officially open to the public on Wednesday, October 20.

To celebrate, the arts and crafts retailer will be hosting an event at the store at 9am on Saturday, October 23.

The event will include product offers, activities and goody bags for the first 100 customers.

The store will create 18 new jobs in the area and will offer a range of products, as well as hosting a dedicated Custom Crafting area, which was trialled in 2019.

The crafting area will introduce the digital personalisation Cricut tool to customers and is designed to encourage shoppers to try out products and crafting techniques.

Store manager Kathryn Gummett-Booth said: “After such a tough year for us all, we are really looking forward to welcoming you through the doors of our brand-new Chichester store and sharing our passion for arts and crafts with you all.

We have seen more people than ever take up crafting during the Covid-19 pandemic and we are inviting you to come down to your new local store and shop with us safely.”

The new store in Chichester will open in line with government Covid guidelines, including social distancing, a sanitisation point on entry, screened checkouts and PPE for staff.

The new store will be open Monday to Friday from 9am to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm.