The UK’s Best New Indie Retailers: Stark Computers

Our Indie Retail Month in association with Gem continues to look at the UK’s top new indie retailers with Stark Computers, one of the youngest stores in the category.

MCV talks to Mark Ainsley about how the store has already outgrown its floor space.

Stark Computers only opened in December 2012 but has already impressed in its first few months in the indie retail sector.

It’s a brand new shop, a computer and gaming store. I didn’t believe it would work on its own as just games, so we do repairs, pre-owned, new games and accessories too,” says Mark Ainsley, who runs the store, and website [www.starkcomputers.co.uk], alongside his brother Steven.

In a short space of time, Stark Computers has grown to such a degree that it is struggling to squeeze everything into the confines of the current store.

I can’t believe how fast it’s grown – we’ve already outgrown the shop. In such a short amount of time, it’s sped up very fast,” adds Ainsley.

Establishing a relationship with distributors is vital in the early stages of setting up an indie, and Stark Computers is grateful for all the support it has been given.

Ainsley says: Without the distributors, I wouldn’t be here. They have been amazing. With all the mistakes I’ve made, they’ve helped me to correct them, and that’s without ever saying ‘you’ve made a mistake’.”