Meggie's

As some of you might of heard I've opened my own little gift & lifestyle shop, Meggie's in beautiful Painswick. I opened the doors to Meggie's last Wednesday the 29th. It's now my second week and I couldn't be happier. 

I won't start from the beginning but basically, I'd worked a lot in hospitality and then after Uni worked for a brilliant Youth Work Charity, Young Gloucestershire. YG do amazing things to support young people in Gloucestershire, go check them out. Then I worked with my family at our gorgeous pub (Dad will kill me for calling it that...) Hotel, The Falcon Inn. A 16th century coaching Inn, 11 bedrooms, a buzzing bar and a great restaurant loved by lots of locals and visitors. My Mum has done a wonderful job with the interiors, something she has a natural flair for, my Brother and my Dad run the front of house and they have a great team working with them. So it was easy for me to just jump into a new job but it wasn't what I really wanted to do. I've always dreamt of having a shop, every time me & Harry would go away and visit independent boutiques, I left wanting to do that. Then we'd speak about it for weeks until reality kicked back in. Maybe this was just the right time for me. 

I had been looking at a few different shop premises in the area, I wanted something small with a local Cotswold feel but rent is so high it scared me off every time. That's when my parents kindly offered me their old storeroom at The Falcon. It was a similar size to some of the other premises I had looked at so why not? We spent 6 weeks clearing the store room out, chucking out unwanted items, cleaning, sanding, painting and fixing. The whole time, I was still working full time at the pub, working on the blog, visiting trade shows, buying stock and trying to have a life too. Luckily my parents and Harry were amazing support. In fact, I couldn't have done any of it without them. 

6 weeks later... here I am! A shop owner! 

I think it might just be the best thing I ever did. I am really happy with all my stock. A great mix of rustic country and exciting modern. I've hand picked lots of lovely local things such as handmade soaps from The Cotswold Soap Co, handcrafted truffles made in Painswick by Costello + Hellerstein, hand poured scented candles by Truly Lovely Candles, La De Da Living stamped vintage spoons made in Cheltenham and jewellery made by the talented Tara Osborne.  I'm also stocking cards and prints from lovely lady, illustrator and artist Angie B. Angie designed my gorgeous logo and recently designed Millie and James save the date cards. It was really important for me to stock as much locally as possible. That's what our blog is all about and that's what I think makes Meggie's so special. There are so many talented people tucked away in The Cotswolds, I wanted to show off their amazing work and inspire people to #shoplocal. The residents staying at The Falcon love to pick up a souvenir from Painswick before heading home. Other stock such as mugs, scarves, lanterns, pieces of art, are from larger stockist but I think they all work really well together. I picked specific items which I personally loved and therefore, the shop has a good flow to it and has found its own style.

I begged, borrowed and stole (only off my parents!) to get the shop ready for opening day. We found the old Shire stable door at the back by the bins which is now my wrapping paper stand, an old industrial kitchen table for displaying, Harry made lots of shelving from scraps of MDF from his Brother, even my Mum's old curtain pole now hangs gorgeous 100% wool scarves. 

It basically all came together exactly how I wanted it too. That has got to be fate, right? Or simply, hard work and long hours do pays off. Either way, the future looks bright for Meggie's. 

I would love to see at Meggie's soon. If you drive into the car park at The Falcom, you'll see me situated opposite The Shires on the left hand side. 

If you live locally, I am having a Christmas Opening Party which everyone is welcome too. Join me on Goodwill evening in Painswick on November 28th for festive late night shopping from 6.30pm. I will be showcasing all my Christmas goodies, cards, gift wrapping, gifts, decorations and much more. 

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has already visited, wished me luck, bought anything... I've been spoilt with kind words so thank you!

Follow Meggie's on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest. Ta! 

Ohhh... & keep an eye out for my website which I am hoping to launch early in the new year. 

Meg x