Crowds gathered at Long Eaton this morning, March 18, as a new Lego resale store opened its doors. The Barn Dawg store in Market Place welcomed its first customers on Saturday, when a crowd of about fifty people lined up from 10 a.m.
The business was first started online at the start of lockdown in 2020 by Barney Nockolds. The 27-year-old turned his passion for Lego into a business in which he began collecting and restoring old Legos and trading them online.
After moving to Long Eaton in December last year, Barney decided to open his first physical store, together with his partner, Nadia Boiko. Barney said: “He’s been really good, there was a crowd of people and the mayor was here at the opening, cut the ribbon and gave a speech.
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“There have been a lot of people and a lot of sets have already sold out.”
So far, the Wall-E set has been the most popular with shoppers, as has the pick a brick bag. The store has a variety of sets from Avatar, Marvel, Star Wars, and GhostBusters.
They even have over 200,000 individual pieces that can be purchased by lego enthusiasts who are missing a piece or need an extra piece.
Barney continued: “Nowhere near, apart from Sheffield, has this type of lego. We have older retired sets that Lego themselves no longer sell. We have individual parts, we have over 200,000 individual parts.
“We have had a lot of support, many people are happy that we have opened.
Barney built Lego as a child, when he grew up he stopped building Lego sets. He said he went 10 to 15 years without building Legos and then after an injury bought a lego set that reignited his passion for legos.
He has now turned his passion into a business, saying “it doesn’t feel like work at all, it just feels fun.”
People have not only visited the store to buy things, but also to discuss and chat with Barney about his passion for Lego and the different sets they have.
Barney’s dad, Chris Nockolds, had been at the store opening to help out. The 59-year-old said the store had been extremely busy since it opened, saying: “(There were) 40 to 50 people there.
“When we pull down the blinds you can see the crowd. They lined up for half an hour at 10am. It was packed, it hasn’t stopped. It’s been like this all day and it’s fantastic.”
James McCarthy, 38, from Borrowash, visited the shop and said: “(I bought the) lego three-in-one Ferris wheel. I like Lego and my lady likes Lego. Collect Harry Potter games.
“We don’t have a physical Lego store. The nearest one from here is Sheffield. Places like this where you can buy, sell and trade things that are not going to be on the shelves (in a Lego store) and get old stuff.”
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