JUMBLE JELLY - Haberdashery, Fabric and Yarn / Wool shop - 10 Silver Street, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, BA15 1JY (near the Heritage City of Bath, Somerset)

Wow!  Its been a hectic few months! 

Opening a new shop with a new brand, in the current challenging economic climate, could be viewed as crazy?  We think not...and hope not!

We decided a few months ago to set up a new haberdashery, fabric and yarn shop for a few reasons. 

We wanted to feed our love for being creative.  Knitting, crochet, sewing, felting and all the many related crafts are contagious obsessions.  So we wanted to provide the resources, in terms of products, and access to learning, to a wider number of people from children to adults, at all skill levels.  Spreading the passion and creating a wider, open and social community that is local and readily accessible to people.

We want to make our mark in connecting modern life with the essence of traditional crafts that have somehow become lost and forgotten in many areas of our 21st Century lives.

We also wanted to fill a major gap in the market, that the internet cannot fulfil, that supermarkets cannot fulfil, nor can the long established, specialist and old-fashioned, cluttered shops.  The shopping experience is everything to us.  We want people to enjoy spending time in our shop, nattering and catching up, sharing ideas and gossiping (and hopefully buying the odd item or two,...but not essential!).

So under one roof we want to create an environment for people to just enjoy.  Where people can meet, socialise and shop under no pressures and with no expectations. 

We want to provide workshops and other approaches (such as Knit and Natter) to assist people in learning these great crafts and to gain the confidence to make a new gift, new jumper, scarf, socks, bunting, dolly, teddy bear etc...etc...  The beauty is that there are so very few boundaries to creativity.

Initially we planned on locating the shop in an area of Bath called Widcombe.  The theory was that Widcombe is not too close to other haberdashery, fabric and wool shops so as to tread on any toes (approx one mile distance to the nearest) and we were in an area that was relatively straightforward to access and park.

Thank goodness we didn't sign the contracts, but what a close shave!  We were pushing forward with contracts on the premises and in fact it was the landlord and their agents that were dragging their heels at the time.  This turned out to be such an amazing positive as we were able to keep reviewing the decision and keep considering all other options...

During this period, we considered Bradford-on-Avon due to its location.  Its much closer to our homes.  Its a lovely location for spending time, and the local people and community are so welcoming and friendly.  Its also much, much further from all other competitor, haberdashery, fabric and wool shops being in a completely different town.  So no arch rivals!  In fact we were excited about the possibility of building friendly relationships with similar shops in the surrounding towns.

Finally we signed the lease, Jumble Jelly (http://www.jumblejelly.com/) was going to be born at 10 Silver Street in Bradford-on-Avon, BA15 1JY, pressure was on.....

The previous tenants had stripped the building of everything including the hot water boiler...  We had our work cut out turning a previous butchers and cafe/restaurant into a mouth-watering colourful and functional haberdashery, fabric and wool shop.

4 weeks later we opened the doors to the world!  Jumble Jelly (http://www.jumblejelly.com/) was finally born.  We are so grateful to everyone for their hard work in getting to where we are today and most of all to all our new customers who are being so supportive and positive.

Of course its early days.  We are listening to all feedback (the overwhelming positives and especially the recommendations) and we aim to keep increasing our stock levels, brands and diversity to keep our customers happy.  This includes achieving broad choices of stock to cater for all budgets, keeping affordable and mainstream yarns and fabrics, right through to keeping designer fabrics and the finest wools.  We are keen to listen and learn, keeping a 'wish list' for our customers so that we tailor our future stock to matching our customers' wants, desires and needs.

Debbie and Roxana
xxx

http://www.jumblejelly.com/
10 Silver Street, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, BA15 1JY
(15-20 minutes from centre of Bath, Somerset)