Pascale Smets opened Pascale Homewares store in Norwich in September and it has already won an award at the inaugural House & Garden Independent Shop Awards. Here, Pascale shares the story behind the store
I’m an ex-fashion designer who moved over into interiors via journalism (I used to do a column in The Times and then The Telegraph). I own and run my homewares shop Pascale in the centre of Norwich. I do all the buying and curating and am brilliantly helped by other members of my team.
I started Pascale in 2019 as a shop within a shop. I was in the homeware section in New Street in Woodbridge. I realised there how much I loved having a shop. The work is very varied and it’s very creative. I also really enjoy meeting customers and passing on my enthusiasm for the products I sell.
The thinking behind it is I try to seek out the ultimate version of everyday items that are useful and beautiful. I apply this rule to everything I sell and that most definitely does NOT mean the most expensive. We sell items at every price point from the best coloured candles at £3.25 each, brilliant, forged steel clothes pegs, even the ultimate loo brush set! Before the shop I was writing a weekly column with my sister Bénédicte in The Telegraph and The Times.
We opened at the end of September this year. The shop has been so well received. We made it onto the top 50 shops in the UK for design selected by House and Garden magazine and on Saturday we heard we won the New Shop on the Block Award. On Sunday the shop was featured in the Telegraph Luxury magazine.
We source from all over the world: France, Sweden, Portugal, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Syria, Africa, India, Japan, Korea, USA, Belgium and, of course, the UK.
We will be hosting events throughout the year to launch collections and introduce products. My dream for the shop is for it to become a brilliant neighbourhood hub of good design and inspiration and a wonderful destination shop for anyone who visits Norwich.
Pascale Homewares store, 27 London Street, Norwich. Visit PASCALE.
Featured image of Pascale Smets by Sam Harrons for Compendia
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