18 November 2014
Two Ducks goes from Pop up to permanently up!
Here's some great news from Claire, who has had support from Start Up Woking:
One year ago this Thursday Two Ducks launched its little pop-up shop showcasing beautiful gifts from British artists and designers. From this small beginning, the shop has grown in popularity and as of this week, has its own large retail store facing The Lye in St.John's village, Woking.
Knaphill resident Claire Leigh had a long term dream to start up a gift shop. She had a great passion for beautiful home and personal accessories, particularly those that were handmade in Britain. But with a career in corporate marketing, she didn't know much about retail (other than a love of shopping!).
Inspired to make a change she began her journey on Twitter in early 2013 using social media to generate interest in a range of products. Within 6 months she had a thousand followers on Twitter and had launched accounts on Facebook and other social media sites to help establish a presence and a reputation in the craft industry. Claire initially started selling her products at gift parties in the homes of local customers before launching a pop-up shop two days a week in the new Cellar Magneval in Woking, in partnership with friends and owners Jo and Thierry Magneval.
The shop grew in popularity and when an opportunity arose for Two Ducks to move to a bigger space in St.John's and team up with Seasons Deli, another small business, it was an exciting next step.
Over the past 6 months Two Ducks has expanded again and now occupies 3/4 of the shop in St.John's which it still shares with Seasons deli. It also has an e-commerce website and has sold its range to customers all over the UK and abroad.
Two Ducks has one of the largest ranges of British Gifts in a retail store in the area and has been featured in national magazine, Country Homes and Interiors, as a guest on blogs for Jessica Zoob and Crafting Fingers Editor Anna Simmonds.
The shop is open Wednesday to Saturday, 10-5pm.
Please contact Claire Leigh if you need any further information or photos;
5 St John's Road, Woking, GU21 7SE
Phone: 07912 613604
Web: two-ducks.co.uk
Email: [email protected]
FB: twoducksgifts
Twitter: @_twoducks
Pinterest: clairetwoducks
Instagram: clairetwoducks
