A sticky Tuesday evening in Shoreditch, east London finds shoppers squeezing past tightly packed shelves at The Rich Collection Bella Italia. The store was set to close until TikToker Caroline Rivier posted a video about its "hidden treasure" shoes in late June, catching owner's daughter Zineb Lazraq's attention. Lazraq (25) posted her own "day-in-the-life" video in early July, which went viral overnight. "It blew up overnight," she says. "And then when the queue started forming, I thought, I need to be there to help my dad out." With no retail experience, she served a two-hour queue. Since July, closure has been halted while demand grows online. Dad Rachid (59) has run The Rich Collection for three decades, watching Hackney Road's leather stores become coffee roasters and craft breweries due to Covid, rising rent, and cost-of-living crisis. The "Closing Down" sign was removed in mid-July to cheers. Lazraq and sister Maryam (19) now help out, and they've hired a part-time assistant. For the first time in six years, the store introduced three new heeled summer sandal styles developed with its manufacturer in Naples, Italy.

Inspired by The Rich Collection, comedian Savannah Gracey posted about her mother Janet Dervan's vintage store, The Arc, in London's Camden Market in mid-July. Gracey (26) showed her 243,000 followers the store preparing to close. "I wanted to help my mum out," says Gracey. "She went to cry, and I was like, for goodness' sake, get yourself together," adds Dervan (63). "And [since] then it's been an absolutely joyous two weeks."