A gift shop and piercing studio that has relocated to a bigger premises in Barrow 'smashed it' on its opening day, according to its owner.

The Barrow branch of Expressions was located at 200 Dalton Road but has now moved to 24 Portland Walk as of Saturday.

Owner Linda Thomas has owned the original Expressions branch in Lancaster since 2001. She opened the piercing studio in Barrow in 2019 and then the boutique in October last year. 

Plenty of blood, sweat and tears went into the re-furbishing of the new premises on Portland Walk.

Linda and her team worked tirelessly to get the shop ready in time for opening with the extensive work including re-hauling of the electrics, plumbing, windows and paintwork. 

Linda said: "We were open from 10am on Saturday and we had a really amazing day. 

"There's still a little work to be done however we're relieved to be open and we had such positive feedback on the new shop.

"Portland Walk is a very good location and it's allowed us to welcome in lots of new customers already."

The Mail: The new Expressions shop on Portland WalkThe new store is substantially bigger than the old premises which has allowed Expressions to open two piercing studios and expand its ladies' clothing range with new products available in the coming months. 

The announcement of the opening on Facebook saw amazing feedback with hundreds of likes and positive comments from people who had already visited. 

One woman said: "Congratulations for today, you smashed it, the new shop is absolutely amazing, how you managed it in such a short time I will never know, well done to you all."

Another added: "What a lovely vibe the shop had today, really busy, you ladies are gonna smash this."

One visitor added: "Well done loved coming in yesterday and getting a few bits. The shop looked fab."

In May, Westmorland and Furness Council shared before and after photos of Portland Walk of the improvements made to the shopping district.

Some of the closed shopping units, such as the large former Debenhams, will be repurposed by BAE to be used as a multi-use training facility. 

Many Barrow residents added what a great addition the new store is to the down.

One woman said: "Massive well done to you all - and thank you!! What a fabulous go-to shop you've created for our town - just love it."

Another added: "The shop looks amazing! It’s nice to see a small business thriving."