Why Shrewsbury?.. Why Barmouth?
The most common question I am hearing at the moment is “why Shrewsbury?”
Why did Pieces for Places decide to open here?
I think to answer that question you first need to know why we originally opened in Barmouth, as a tiny seaside town probably isn’t the most obvious choice for a furniture shop.
When we first opened in Barmouth in 2014 “Why Barmouth?” was a question we heard several times a day.
Well, I am from Barmouth so that obviously had a lot to do with it, but I also think Barmouth happens to be an excellent location for Pieces for Places, but it took me a while to realise.
I went to school and college in The Midlands, I tried university but only lasted 1 term, then bounced around working abroad for several years. One of the places I was lucky enough to live was Berlin, and it's here my interest in interior and furniture design really began. Berlin is an incredible city, it is the European centre of everything alternative, I found myself surrounded by amazing quirky interior design, beautiful mid-century furniture, and I loved it.
After Germany I went to France working in a big hotel and remember around that time, I was 23 and when people used to ask the dreaded “what do you want to do?” question I started saying “I’d like to do something with furniture”. I had never had an answer to that question before.
Eventually, like so many of us, the allure of Barmouth and home was too strong, and I found myself back in North Wales in my mid-twenties working for my dad on a building site whilst designing and making the odd bit of furniture as a hobby.
There aren’t many places better to live than Barmouth, and I had made the decision I wanted to settle down near friends and family, I still had the desire to do something creative based around furniture, but it is a small seaside town, so opportunities for that type of work weren’t exactly plentiful. I knew if I wanted to stay in Barmouth I would have to create something from scratch, I had the idea of a furniture shop, I just needed a premises.
After looking for several years and not finding anything suitable, I was driving through Barmouth and saw the estate agent putting up a for sale sign outside the nearly derelict Caersalem Chapel, me and my Dad looked round it that same afternoon and made an offer. With much support from my family (especially my older brother Fred) Pieces for Places opened 12 months later.
I encountered a lot of disbelief about opening a quality furniture shop in Barmouth, but (probably through complete naivety) I never had any doubts it was a good location. There was then (and is now) a lot of news about the demise of the British High Street, due to online shopping and out of town shopping centres, but Barmouth has never struggled to attract visitors and will continue to do so long after I’m gone. For over half the year Barmouth High Street is packed.
Fast forward 7 years to 2021, Pieces for Places had settled into Barmouth, it felt like we had always been there with fantastic customers and a great team. Like me, my colleagues had made the decision to stay in Barmouth, they are super hard working and capable, but I started to wonder where the personal progression would come from for all of us. I believe that humans need challenge and jeopardy. Stagnation, repetition, and comfort isn’t always healthy or happy. We were on the lookout for new challenges.
Then a friend sent me a link to The Wightman Hall in Shrewsbury which was up for rent. I quickly arranged a viewing. When I walked into the hall, just of the square in the middle of Shrewsbury, I knew it was the perfect building in the perfect town for Pieces for Places 2.0.
Below is an excerpt from an article in My Shrewsbury.
“Shrewsbury was always number 1 on the list of dream locations, geographically its perfectly positioned for us as 80% of our deliveries already go to the West Midlands and as a town it must be one of the nicest places in the whole of the U.K. Its got everything you could possibly want, surrounded by the beautiful Shropshire countryside, I’m very excited about joining this community.
We signed the lease on the Wightman Hall back in the spring of 2021, The hall needed a lot of work, over a 2 year period we slowly chipped away at the renovation carefully and sympathetically bringing the building back to life. Now it is the perfect setting for our unique blend of furniture and homeware, if a little hidden away.
Whilst we are pretty much right on the square in Shrewsbury, the entrance could easily be overlooked, so getting our name out there is important, but ultimately we know if we just concentrate on making sure our offering and service are good, word will spread. There is no substitute for word of mouth and recommendations.”
Shrewsbury is a dream location because it’s the nearest big town to our base back in Barmouth, the 1hr 45minute journey is just about commutable if needs be. But whilst it is quite a big town with a HUGE catchment area it still has that small town feel which I like.
Then there is the Wightman Hall itself, Built in 1863 it was built just 3 years before our Chapel in Barmouth, the architects of both buildings were from Shropshire and probably knew each other. Some features are present in both buildings, granite pillars, and sandstone corbels and arches for example. It felt very serendipitous to find another beautiful empty building in need of renovation.
So that’s it, a brief history of how we ended up in Barmouth and now Shrewsbury, 2 amazing locations, after only 6 months Shrewsbury already feels like home from home.
Thanks for your time
Jack