Although CW is growing quickly as an online business it has always been a dream of mine to have a shop and now I am very excited that it is finally coming to fruition.
I have come very close to doing it in the past and I have worked in many shops and managed many more and even opened some very large ones but I have never done it for myself. This is how it happened.
My brother was doing some rather late Christmas shopping in the New Year as he had been ill in December and he mentioned to me how busy Stockbridge was for a rainy Tuesday in January. This prompted me to ask him if there were any empty shops there. There were. The following week I went and looked at them and found one which I think is perfect for CW.
It’s in a great location (in between the butcher and Roxtons for those of you who know Stockbridge), it’s a little bit quirky as the entrance is down a side alley way, the window is beautiful and the shop has lots of space. After much negotiating with the landlord and many conversations with my husband ( who was at first reluctant but now a convert) I have decided to go for it.
Builders are on site at the moment and there’s quite a lot that needs doing. Every night I seem to wake up and spend a few hours in my head working out the correct layout! All going according to plan I am hoping to open at the beginning of May.
The best thing about it is that now I am doing more accessories and clothes that work alongside the scarves I feel it is great that people can come and try things on and have a touch and feel without having to come by appointment to my house. The other thing that excites me is that CW has rather taken over my home and I’m therefore pleased that I can separate the two and plan to run the whole operation from the shop.
I am planing to work in the shop myself a lot of the time but also realise that I need to hire some amazing part time managers to help me as there will be times when I can’t be there such as when I am buying, doing fairs, working on new collections being put online etc etc. If you are reading this and live locally and think you may be interested please do get in touch. I am looking for staff who can work one or two days a week and one Saturday per month. The hours are peachy – 10am-5pm! Applicants must be excellent with people and have a flair for fashion and styling. Some IT skills would also be useful.
There is also an empty office above the shop which would comfortably fit two people so ideal for a small business or a start up or some one looking to escape from home! I have got the landlord’s permission to sublet this so please do let me know if you think you or somebody you know might be interested.
I haven’t got many images yet but here is one of the shop today.
And here’s a Photoshop mock-up of what it will look like by the end of April. Exciting!
I will keep you fully updated on progress and rest assured you will definitely hear about it once we are open!
Harriet x