Susan on the battle of being an independent retailer...
"The difference between an independently owned shop and a department store or a chain is that it has the spirit of the owner stamped on it, and it’s their tastes and style that gets injected into the feel of the shop."
"People want something where there’s a bit of themselves in the clothes they wear, just to put the human stamp back into their surroundings and their clothing."
On the importance of online presence...
"About a third to half of our sales is through the online shop, it was really important to me that the online shop reflected, and was almost an extension of the London space."
"There is another element to the online shop which is much more editorial…so it is almost a magazine. Also on the news page we talk about new things that are coming in, book launches or events at the shop, or things that are going on outside the shop in the knitting community."
On having ideas and trusting your instincts...
"Somehow I get a vision of how a thing will look or feel and I guess I trust my instincts that it’s going to be ok and work out, it’s a bit scary, and you think, ‘what if it doesn’t work, I might loose loads of money.’ But you have to keep trying because you only live once."
"It’s much more work then I imagined but I’m passionate about it. For 20 years I raised three children while doing freelance art direction, and people thought that was hard, but this is actually much much harder!"
