65 RETAILER INTERVIEW Small shop, big conversations Jan Martin and Jon Sayer co-owners at The Snail of Happiness, reflect on running a small craft shop with national impact, following multiple award shortlists, involvement in The Willow Review on sustainable business, Jan’s recognition as an f:Entrepreneur Top 100 business woman, and an invitation to discuss rural enterprise at Downing Street. Tell us a bit about The Snail of Happiness. The Snail of Happiness is an unusual shop combining new and pre-loved craft supplies and tools. We sell natural fibre yarns (mainly British wool and cotton) along with all sorts of tools for making and mending, as well as deadstock and pre-loved fabrics, new and secondhand craft books. We offer lots of classes in sewing, knitting, crochet, felting and mending as well as one-to-one sessions for those who want to learn or develop a particular skill. Who opened the shop and why? Opening our doors in March 2022, we had the idea of creating a friendly, welcoming shop full of colour and inspiration. Jan’s background is in ecology and we wanted to develop some ideas around the circular economy and building sustainability into crafting. With this in mind, we focus on slow crafting (hence the shop name), as well as mending and using ethically sourced products. We do our very best to support local producers, British manufacturers, and companies with strong ethics. We’re ably assisted by Daisy the spaniel. When did your e-commerce shop open and what was the reason for opening online? The web shop has been up and running for about a year. Being located in a rural area with a relatively sparse population (Ceredigion only has a total of about 72,500 residents) means that reaching enough customers can be a challenge. The online shop has expanded our reach and we’re now sending parcels all over the UK. In addition, we were also very keen to help local producers to have a wider market and are particularly keen to sell things such as Cambrian Wool and beautiful darning mushrooms from Chris, our local wood turner (he delivers to the shop when he walks down to get his newspaper from round the corner). What’s special about your location? Lampeter is a vibrant little town, with fabulous cafes, an amazing hardware store and lots of other independent retailers. The area is quite a hub for crafters, with The Welsh Quilt Centre just round the corner, someone who sells traditional Welsh blankets just up the road, a lovely quilting store and The National Wool Museum not too far away. Every year, we’re visited by tourists who have come to the area to enjoy the beautiful scenery and unspoilt coastline – regularly we’re told by our customers that they come to Ceredigion rather than Cornwall because it’s so much quieter (good for them, maybe not so good for business). How has business been over the past few years? Unpredictable! As soon as we feel we’ve got a handle on purchasing patterns and customers, something happens
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