PINK LANE - The Fight Stor(E)Y – Chapter 6
The shop that became a home for fighters...
By 2011, FightStoreMMA had outgrown Newgate.
The little shop that started as a solution to a storage problem had become something much bigger. Fighters were coming through the doors, the online business was growing, and we needed somewhere that could support the next stage of the journey.
That opportunity came when we moved to Pink Lane in Newcastle. Pink Lane is a historic street that leads up from the Train station and is very central in the city. The building was spilt into three, a decent size store, a office area adjoining and then a basement with ample storage.
It also had a fantastic little American style diner called "Stateside" right across from our building in which we enjoyed many an American breakfast in.
The new store gave us more space, storage, an office for the growing online operation and a much more central location close to Newcastle Central Station. But the biggest change wasn't the building.
It was what happened inside it.
FightStore was becoming a meeting point for the North East fight community. Fighters, coaches and beginners were all walking through the same doors, sharing advice, talking training and connecting with each other.
The shop was proving something we had started to realise at Newgate:
FightStore was never just about selling equipment. It was about the people who used it.
By now we had moved twice, but the mission remained the same — provide fighters with great equipment and create somewhere the community felt welcome.
Of course, it wasn't long before we outgrew Pink Lane too...
Know someone who trains in boxing, MMA, Muay Thai or BJJ?
Forward them this chapter and introduce them to the North East fight community that has helped build FightStore from the beginning.
Next week...
The move that changed everything... FightStore was coming to Unit 18.
