Fir Lane Gifts (sample) opened in 2012 in an old haberdasher’s, with one window and a lot of baubles. It is open all year, and very busy in December.
We began by selling glass baubles from a painter we met at a winter market. Customers asked for something to put under the tree too, so the shelves filled with wooden toys, candles, socks and biscuit tins (sample).
The free wrapping started in the first December, when the queue at the till was long and the brown paper was cheap. It is still free, and the tags are still written by hand.
Before a gift goes on the shelf, we ask who it is for. If nobody in the shop can name a person they would give it to, it does not come in.
Five people, and three more in December who mostly wrap.
Owner and buyer (sample)
Shop floor and the till (sample)
Wrapping table and posting (sample)
Wreath evenings (sample)
Office gifts and orders (sample)
Tell us who is on it and what you want to spend. We put gifts aside for a week, wrap them for free and post them in time (sample).