Katharine Ricks is the Founder of FuzzypegFolk, a new folk-art homeware, toy and gift shop which opens next week in Bungay, Suffolk. Here, Katharine explains how the story starts back in the 1960s when her mum opened a children’s clothes shop – also called Fuzzypeg
Who are you and what do you do?
I am Katharine Ricks. I have an online shop, launched in November 2024, called FuzzypegFolk which sells old and new gifts, toys, stationery, decoration and household things, mostly handmade in old, traditional ways and sourced from Europe and the UK. And now I am opening an actual shop in Bungay, Suffolk on April 16.
Are you Suffolk born and raised? What do you love about the county?
I was born in Portsmouth, but my mother and I moved to Suffolk when I was three years old, first to Earl Soham and then to Woodbridge, when I was five, which is where I grew up and lived until I left home for university.
My mother continued to live in Woodbridge until she died two years ago so my connections with Suffolk continued throughout my life and, after having lived away for many years we moved back in 2022. We now live in an old workhouse in Shipmeadow just outside Bungay. We found ourselves drawn to Bungay when looking for a house nearer Woodbridge proved impossible. I have deep childhood ties with Bungay having spent a lot of time here (in Ilketshall St Margaret) when I was a small child being looked after at weekends by dear family friends while my mother was working in her shop, the original Fuzzypeg. Those friends, who were like fairy grandparents to us both, helped Mum to start that shop and were very involved in my early life. It now feels like I have come full circle living here and starting my own Fuzzypeg shop! My other home is Malta which I have visited all my life because my mother was Maltese, and I have a lot of family and friends still there.
I love Suffolk so much and have always felt very tied to it emotionally even when we lived in other places. The colours of the landscape, colourful old buildings and the light which is like nowhere else in this country. Huge skies, being near the sea, the familiarity of it all, happy memories. And most importantly the people. Old and new friends and the warmth, generosity and friendliness of strangers which again I have not encountered anywhere else.
What has led you to opening FuzzypegFolk in Bungay and what were you doing before?
I spent most of my previous working life working in fashion. My experience working in all aspects of Mum’s shop Fuzzypeg, which was a children’s clothes boutique, meant that when applying for jobs post – university (where I studied Geography of all things!) I was drawn to the rag-trade and fashion retail. So first I worked for Jaeger, a traditional and long-established women’s clothing brand. I joined as a graduate management trainee and then due to a restructure and a bizarre twist of fate ended up being the sole buyer for their North American market (60 stores) when I was just 25. It was a very stressful job but taught me so much about buying, range plans and budgets and working with characters straight out of “The Devil wears Prada”! I then went on to actually be Head of Buying for the Prada, London store as well as for all the Giorgio Armani and Donna Karan UK stores. I did this for many years until we thankfully moved out of London to Herefordshire where we raised our two lovely children, now in their twenties. During that time, I worked for a small start-up company on an Organic farm where we manufactured authentic, botanical extracts sold as ingredients for the soft drinks and cosmetics’ industries. The company grew and grew, and I ended up being the Operations Director there managing the complete supply chain, logistics, IT and Sustainability. In the latter years my mother became increasingly unwell, and I regularly commuted back and forth to Woodbridge to support her. Finally deciding to move back here for good and care for her full-time.
Once she died, I knew what I wanted to do. I’d had a lifetime of working for other people and supporting their visions and creativity. So now I wanted to have my own business, explore my own creativity and have my own Fuzzypeg, in memory of my inspirational and amazing Mum, in which to sell things I loved. I looked around my house and realised that those things were folk art – colourful yet simply made, functional but decorative and with a history of traditional use and method of making. So FuzzypegFolk was born!
Who or what is Fuzzypeg, for those not in the know?
Fuzzypeg is a little hedgehog and one of the woodland characters from the beloved Little Grey Rabbit series of 30 or so children’s books by British author Alison Uttley, first published in 1929.
The Little Grey Rabbit stories feature a cast of woodland characters which centre round gentle and motherly Little Grey Rabbit herself who lives with boastful, but kind Hare and vain, but affectionate Squirrel.
Fuzzypeg is the son of Milkman Hedgehog and his wife. He is very curious and adventurous and always getting into scrapes. Their world is full of tales of nature, friendship, fun and happiness. The stories are beautifully illustrated by Margaret Tempest who brings the characters to life, painted in soft colours that evoke simpler times gone by.
Who has inspired you?
Number One has to be my mother. She was left by my father on a Scottish island in the 1960s when I was just two. It was hard to make it as a single parent in those days and she had no job, no house or car, nothing. But she was fiery and determined and eventually found her way to Woodbridge to live near her sister and family where she created our home and a business to support us. She taught me resilience and independence but also the importance of friends and family – if you gather lovely people around you it is possible to do anything. She was very stylish and had such a good eye for colour and fabric. This she shared with me and we made joint decisions about what to stock in the shop and how our home was decorated.
It’s important to you that everything will be plastic-free etc?
Yes, extremely important. My role as Operations Director working with plant materials and managing sustainability in our supply chains taught me so much about the impact of humans on our precious, but increasingly fragile environment and eco-systems. Every one of us must play our part in conserving and protecting this planet. Recycling plastic where possible is obviously important but there is such a surplus much of this can cause further problems. Plastic is poison and, ultimately, its use must be eradicated. There are so many eco-friendly alternatives now there is no excuse. At FuzzypegFolk I only use paper-based packaging which can all be recycled and most of which is itself made from recycled materials wherever available.
When does your shop open and what can shoppers expect?
FuzzypegFolk opens on Wednesday 16th April. Opening times will be Wednesday to Saturday 10am – 4pm. Shoppers can expect to enter a world of colour, joy and fun and hopefully be transported to that childhood time of wonder and fairground and circus memories. The shop is very colourful both inside and out and will be filled with a treasure trove of hand-painted, hand-woven, hand- carved gifts, toys, stationery, decoration and household things mainly made of wood, paper and textiles.
Is life better in colour, in your opinion?!
YES! Colour always cheers you up, it never makes you sad or drags you down. Nature is full of colour which everyone loves to enjoy so we should bring that into every aspect of our lives rather than surround ourselves with grey and beige. Watching people’s faces as they pop their head into the shop while I am decorating is a joy to behold. Total wonder in their eyes and huge smiles. It’s so lovely to see. One local artisan who I have commissioned to make decorations and gifts for FuzzypegFolk said this “I’ve really enjoyed making them all and working with all those colours has made me feel so joyful!” Mission accomplished!
How can people find out more about FuzzypegFolk?
On my website, where nearly everything for sale in the shop is also available to buy online. There is an About Me page with a little history of Fuzzypeg and also a FuzzypegFolk Tales page where every month I share snippets of the folk-art world, product and project news and my top tips for folkifying and decorating your life. You can also subscribe to my monthly emailed Newsletter via a link on the footer of each website page.
What are your hopes and dreams for your shop?
First and foremost, to enjoy myself and bring enjoyment to others. To meet lots of lovely people, some of whom may be creative and inspire me further. To support and promote all those artisans who are still making things that last a lifetime in old, traditional ways using natural materials and without impacting the environment.
FuzzypegFolk, 11a Market Place, Bungay, Suffolk, NR35 1AP, opens on April 16, 2025. Opening times, 10am to 4pm, Wednesday to Saturday. Visit fuzzypegfolk.co.uk. and follow on Plus, you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook.
Featured images – supplied
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