A mother-of-three has taken the plunge and opened her own gift and housewares shop in her home town of Crumlin.
Eclectica, on Main Street, is the brainchild of Hanna Ferguson, who was inspired to take advantage of the extra space in her workshop.
A creative person, Hanna was upcycling furniture in the evenings on her dining room table before renting 20 Main Street in Crumlin as a workspace.
She explained: “I didn’t need all the room, so drawing on a cherished experience working in a similar type of shop in London years ago, I decided to open one for myself and help other people, like me, get recognised in the process.”
She hopes that her quirky blend of gifts from local producers will open up new opportunities for buyers as well as showcase the work of local tradesmen and women.
Hanna added: “There is nowhere locally where you can buy a quality, unique item, get a card and have them wrapped for you – but you can get that here and we aim to cater for a range of niche markets too.”
She employs a ‘rent-a-shelf’ scheme for craftspeople to sell their items in a bid to give them a platform to launch their own businesses and will be working closely with the Friends of the Crumlin Navigation Colliery and Light Up Newbridge to promote community events.
A shop selling local produced unique products? It’s how it used to be, you never know, it could work. Everything is cyclical.
Good luck.