Lovely local suppliers

Over 80% of the products we stock in the shops are locally sourced, alongside some carefully chosen products that I buy to compliment the local offer. These days, over two years after we first opened, it's quite rare for me to find a new local supplier so it's very exciting to get a phone call a few minutes ago from someone at Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding Company. This world renowned local company are bringing out Christmas puddings and a new range of ambient puds that don't need refrigeration. Perfect! I can't wait to receive the samples which will, of course, need rigorous testing...
Also, later this week (hopefully) we're starting to stock a new jewellery collection by Jane Shaw, who is based in the north of Cumbria. Her beautiful pieces are more "chunky" (for lack of a better word) than our current jewellery so should add a new dimension to our range.
Now to get everything on the website....mmm.
Louise

Not quite a cashless society

Yesterday's trauma was that the credit card machine in Bowness, for reasons best known to itself, decided to not accept any cards, flashing up a message that (of course) wasn't in any of it's accompanying manuals. The 24 hour support service didn't extend to Sundays so, in the end, we tried the last trick in the unwritten gadget handbook - turn it off for 5 minutes and then reboot.
In both stores, the majority of the transactions are done with debit or credit card so it was quite a surprise to see that, when push came to shove, most customers weren't flummoxed by the inconvenience of a nonfunctioning credit card machine. Digging deep in to pockets and purses, our lovely customers were happy to pay with cash - one couple even calculated the taxi fare back to their hotel before paying for a a large candle with the rest of their cash. The strange thing is that, once the credit card machine was fixed, the majority of the rest of the day's sales were paid for with money rather than cards.
Today, normal service is resumed and we're gettign ready to take in our Autumn/Winter stock this week. It's set to be colder by Thursday/Friday so customers may be in the mood to buy comfort food, cashmere scarves and autumn fragrances like cinnamon and orange. Let's hope so!
Louise

Beware of innocuous middle aged female shoppers!

September is a fabulous month in the Lakes. July and August are great because it's generally so busy but September is as good businesswise because a different sort of customer emerges: one that doesn't have their children's constant entertainment in mind (sorry to generalise but it really is like that).
The weather in the Lakes has been lovely so far this month but yesterday, at around 4pm., in Bowness a quick thunderstorm occurred accompanied by a brief powercut in the shop. There were a fair few folk in the shop at the time, including 3 middle aged ladies carrying open shopping bags who were inspecting the Lakeland Fragrance display.
After the inevitable slight confusion cleared and the power came back on, Jules did a quick reccie of the shop and found a couple of Eau de Toilettes had disappeared along with the 3 ladies. I'm going to make another generalisation now....it is nearly always middle aged female shoppers who steal from us. Why, oh why, oh why?
Louise
P.S. I'm being interviewed by Radio Cumbria this afternoon...I'm not sure what about but I've had to pick my favourite song of the moment (which is Mumford and Sons Winter Winds) for them to play. Desert Island Discs eh?

Forever blowing bubbles

One of the products that we sell in our shop are the Fanny and Claude Bath Melts - they come in boxes of 6 small heart shaped bath soaps. One of the boxes is left open so customers can have a look at exactly what they are buying but there have been a couple of unusual incidents with them recently:
Incident #1 : A lady brought one (soap, not box!) over and proudly announced she was having a night in and wanted to buy just a single soap...'but you have to buy the whole box madam!
Incident # 2 : 'Are these samples for tasting?' Hmmm, enough said - she would be forever blowing bubbles if she ate one of those!!

Sean

Assumptions shattered

Firstly I have to say "Hooray. Mel is back". Fresh from 2 terms teaching primary children, Mel starts her summer hols with a spell working at Love the Lakes Bowness. Rachael is taking a well earned rest this weekend and Sean has gone to Keswick this morning to take over the helm. Leaving me to take the hounds on their morning walk through the woods. Ever since Angus was a nipper, some 14 years ago, I have often seen the same jogger pounding his way along the path. Our customary monosyllabic greetings to each other have been indistinct as befits the ungodly hour we're both out in the woods. This chap is slight with, what was once, reddish curly hair but now appears to be greying at the temples and in my mind he has always been known as the "Irish Doctor". Don't ask me why: my only excuse is that we live close to a hospital and the guy looks, well, sort of Irish! Today, as the rain was bucketing down (don't start me on the hosepipe ban, that's another day's blog) I didn't hear his approach along the path behind me and I think he surprised the dogs too as Dougal reacted by lunging towards him. "Whoa, steady there lad!" The jogger exclaimed and I gasped in astonishment, all assumptions shattered, as the Irish Doctor is, in fact, from Yorkshire. As I'm now a bit of an expert on the accent from a certain part of that county I might even go so far as to say my Irish Doctor is from Baaarrrrnsley!
Louise

You can't get the staff!

I’ve just realised I’m surrounded by offcomers. Jules, who manages our shop in Bowness, is from Derbyshire but has lived for a fair few years in the Lakes. She loves walking at weekends and so has such good knowledge of the area that it’s easy to assume that she’s a born and bred Cumbrian. The manager of our new store in Keswick, Rachael, hails from Barnsley, that’s Baaarrrnsley, and is a right Yorkshire lass. The two of them have been working together for a couple of weeks as we wait for the new store to open and now Jules has reverted to being a Derbyshire girl. Customers are “me duck” or “me love” and I feel like I’m working on the set of Last of the Summer Wine.


There’s a quite a story around Rachael coming to work for us. She and her husband, Robin, are followers of Sean’s walking website, stridingedge.net and had visited our shop a few times. When we mentioned that we were opening a new store in Keswick, Rachael , in an off the cuff remark, said she really fancied working there. In a real change of lifestyle, her casual remark has now become a reality and I’m sure she’s going to really enjoy managing the Keswick store. Now, if she would only lose that offcomers accent!!!
Louise

Dear me!

A deer appeared on the road in front of my car this morning and, as it blindly careered around until eventually dashing off into the woodland, I thought of the present predicament with the new shop in Keswick. Our shopfitters have been fantastic as they managed to start work at a moment's notice. But what was supposed to be 12 days of work now looks like it going to stretch to 15 or 16 and then the new floor has to be laid. We were aiming to open next weekend and will still push for that date but, at this point, it doesn't look good. This slippage, of course, has a knock on effect for the new team, the stock arriving, the configuration of the till and credit card machine etc. etc.. Anyway, Sean and I are going to Keswick this morning to meet with the shopfitters and the flooring contractor and we hope to get a definitive date for the shopfitting to end. Until then, it's like the old joke about the blind deer as we too have "no idea"!
Louise

Our friends across the pond

We were visited today by a charming lady who represents one of the companies we buy from. Although she's Canadian she's lived in Scotland for a number of years and we took great delight in telling her about the American couple who Jules engaged in conversation today. This couple had lived in Cambridge for a couple of years and were very impressed by the lovely scenery of the Lake District. "We've never been this far north in the UK" they announced. "The furthest we've been is Edinburgh". Jules politely explained the exact location of the Lake District but they just didn't get it.
Our Canadian rep found this highly amusing but then confessed that her niece and friend are visiting the UK this summer and, as she couldn't be bothered to drive down to Manchester to collect them and drive all the way back to Edinburgh where she lives, she is intending to take them round the Lake District and pass it off as Scotland. As there's plenty of Edinburgh Woollen Mills and Pitlochry stores she'll probably get away with it!
Louise

Light relief

The number of jobs I need to do before we open the new store seems to be growing like Topsy despite my tackling a fair number every day. Looking for a bit of light relief I ventured out from the office in Bowness to catch a customer in the act of buying a Pilula Swarovski Crystal necklace. Helpfully, I offered to gift wrap the lady's purchase with some spare paper we keep under the counter. Under the watchful eyes of Rachael, Jules and the customer, I proceeded to make a right "dog's dinner" of this simple task and, as the customary banter between the girls dried up I asked "Are you here on holiday?" Quick as a flash with dry Irish humour and her eyes on my pathetic fumblings with paper and sellotape, the lady replied "Yes. But only until Saturday". That's me told then!
Later, a couple wandered in and, after drifting around the store, the lady selected a bottle of finest Bubble Bath and brought it to the counter announcing to her partner "You can pay for this". She then proceeded to tell us that her husband has just made her walk up the biggest hill she'd ever seen and she deserved a long, hot bath. Which hill had she climbed? "The one that begins with G, G". "Great Gable?" we helpfully supplied. "No, Gu, Gum". With a certain amount of disbelief in our voices we chimed "Not Gummer's How". "Yes, that's the one". Her husband shrugged as we fell about laughing....
Louise

Staff rotas

Our new store manager, Rachael, has been having a lovely time in Bowness for the past week learning all about running the store. Jules has taken over the management of Bowness and, together, they've had a really productive few days getting to grips with the ordering system, stock rotation, deliveries etc. etc. Today, however, came the first real hurdle for Rachael, the staff rota. Not only are we not really sure which day we're opening yet but also none of the staff have fixed working days although they all have times over the summmer holidays when they would prefer not to work. Consequently, Rachael has spent the last hour, pencil in hand, with a befuddled expression whilst Jules and I make useful suggestions. Phrases she has used so far include "My head's steaming", "I'm going blue in the face here" and  "I need a drink to fathom this". I've just popped my head out of the office and she's folding tissue paper rather than looking at the rota. Coward!
Louise

The (ongoing) shop fit

We have been in Keswick all day today checking the new shop and have been going over the new fit mm by mm. There is lots to remember and lots to do:
Staff to employ - check. Shelves to order - check. Light fittings to order - check. Signage to order - check. Flooring to order - check. Stock to order - check. ££££'s to spend - check, check, cheque!

The previous incumbents of our shop left under a bit of a cloud so there is no power on in there yet - hoops have to be jumped through to get that back on. The strip out of the shop is ongoing and who knows what will be found next under the existing panels - that is plural because the previous shopfit is directly over the previous one to that. At least we have found extra space that was not visible previously!

The rats nest of cables and wires that were there have been completely stripped out now, that was another 'wiring on top of wiring' effort. As for trouble with the neighbours (see Louise's previous blog), the lads are pussyfooting around as best they can but I fear there is worse news to come (for the neighbours, not us) as a problem with their power supply has been uncovered in our shop. No one said this shop lark would be easy...

Sean

Here we go again

When we were looking for a suitable shop in Bowness we started in September 2007, found somewhere in January 2008, put in an offer early in February and took possession on May 1st. We started looking for Love the Lakes 2 (The Empire Strikes Back) in April 2009, found somewhere in January of this year, put in an offer in February and took possession last week.
The shop in Bowness was already a gift shop and there were negotiations over the price, whether or not we wanted the stock (no thanks!) and some leeway allowed as the previous business owners were retiring. This time, the shop was already empty, the only negotiation was over getting a rent reduction for installing an inside loo (not an unreasonable request we thought!!!) and heaven knows why it all took so long. Along the way the estate agent got fed up of our calls and was unobtainable for days on end and our solicitor fired off a warning email across our bows to stop us harassing him. 
Never mind, that's all behind us. Rachael, our new store manager and stridingedge.net follower, started learning the ropes in Bowness today and the shop fitters have started ripping out fixtures and fittings in Keswick. It's all full steam ahead. Hang on, Jules has just called me....one of the owners of the beauty salon above the new store has phoned to complain about the noise made by the shopfitting team. She has already had to give someone their facial free of charge because the client's chair was vibrating as she was trying to relax. Oh dear, there may be trouble ahead........
Louise

Louise's bloomers

It's been like summer in the Lakes today and I think my ears are blocked with a little pollen or something as I definitely didn't hear the following conversation correctly.
A lady and her husband brought in a necklace which they'd bought last year and asked if we could replace the chain as it had snapped. I was happy to oblige and then followed a friendly chat about the weather and their journey over by ferry from Ireland. "Are you here for long?" I asked to which the reply was "Yes, for a fortnight, which is great as we only usually manage 3 or 4 days". "That's great" I replied to which they said "blah, blah, blah". Ok, I didn't quite catch what they said but, in the spirit of the lovely conversation we'd had so far I replied "That's brilliant". We then exchanged a few more pleasantries and off they went.
As soon as they'd left the shop Sean doubled up with laughter and then managed to pull himself together to tell me that "blah, blah, blah" had actually been....."Our dog has died, so we've been able to get over for longer this time"!!!! Earth, swallow me up.....lovely couple from Ireland, please forgive me. I'm off to wash out my ears.
Louise
 

Entente Cordiale?

We're still in the middle of the wranglings to get the lease signed for our new store.....it's only four months since we agreed the principles but, hey, I'm a patient sort of person, not!
Now, the end is near, it's time to face.......no...........it's time to sign on the dotted line in the next couple of days. It feels like we're in limboland: ready to push the button on many stock orders, getting the shopfitters to storm in wielding hammers and saws, getting the team in place and, for goodness sake, GETTING OPEN BEFORE THE SEASON ENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, in the midst of frayed nerves, a letter has arrived from the landlords of the Bowness store. Opening it with some trepidation (after all news from landlords is never good), I was shocked, indeed, stunned to see that our lovely landlord has decided to wave his right to apply the forthcoming rent review. Our rent will stay the same for the next 3 years. Yippee......now back to the new store lease, what's happening now?!
Louise

Pride of Cumbria

This weekend we've been to London to see Barrow win the FA Trophy final at Wembley (never in doubt, but helped by our opponents having a player sent off at the end of the first half). We were there the last time Barrow won this cup some 20 years ago and you just can't beat the feeling of pride in our town when our team achieves something against the odds and the exhilaration that an excited crowd of some 10,000 Barrovians creates when the game goes our way.


On the way to London on the train, Connie met up with a couple of older boys from her school and proceeded to beat them in a DS Super Mario challenge. My quiet pride in this dubious achievement was doubled when Sean (who swore he'd never played Super Mario on DS) beat them too! Hopefully this gets Connie and her Dad ubercool points at school.

Yesterday we wandered around the Tate Modern and then meandered into the Globe Theatre where we found, in the gift shop, a range of Hawkshead Relish jellies and chutneys. We do really well in the shop with this very local supplier and it was great to see their products so far from home.

All in all, Cumbria was best place in Britain this weekend!

Louise

The jewel in the crown

Yesterday a lovely lady and gentleman, both sporting healthy tans, spent a lot of time looking at our jewellery before the lady settled on a Firefrost turquoise pendant and matching earrings. "We've just come back from a Caribbean cruise" the lady told me "and I looked all over the Caribbean for turquoise jewellery but I end up buying it here!" Meanwhile, her husband was jovially muttering something to the effect that most people built conservatories but they had to build wardrobe extensions to accommodate his wife's fashion purchases. Whereupon his wife turned round to him and announced " I don't drink, I don't smoke and I don't do drugs. I'm entitled to spend your (???!!!) money on something!" Good line that, I might use it myself if I can ever give up red wine.
Speaking of jewellery, we've got 2 new jewellery stores opening in the village. The first is Silver Moon who also have a shop in Ambleside, the other is a Pandora shop -  Bowness must have proved itself to be a mecca for people with disposable income to be worthy of a Pandora shop but, for a fraction of the price, you can buy one of Jules' Pilula Aura bracelets which really are lovely and leave you with enough change to buy a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape!
Louise

Consider myself told off

Yesterday a lady on a mobility scooter accompanied by an older lady in a wheelchair stopped outside the shop and asked loudly "Can we get in your shop?". I went outside to explain to her that as the step into the shop is only a few inches tall we didn't have a ramp for wheelchairs. She then informed me that I was breaking the law and that she would have happily spent lots of money in my lovely shop but couldn't get in there. She then proceeded along the street to Jim and Sue's cafe next door and I was a bit miffed to see that she managed to get off the scooter and go inside to order.
Muttering to myself I went to the Post Office to send a few internet orders and asked Malcolm, the Postmaster, if he thought we were breaking the law by not having wheelchair access. He thought not and that the law only applied to banks, Post Offices and other businesses offering a public service. When I got back to the shop I googled the issue and found, to my complete surprise, that indeed wheelchair access to any shop has been the law since 2004. I then looked online for wheelchair ramps and found a portable lightweight aluminium one for £70 which I then ordered (it's just arrived). I then went along to Jim and Sue's to apologise to the lady and she admitted that she was only so vociferous about it because not only so few shops comply with the law but also because she was only registered disabled a couple of years ago and was still coming to terms with the complete frustration she felt with all aspects of her new life.
What astounds me is just how many shops do flout the law, probably unwittingly.
Louise

Where's the sun gone?

We've had a fantastic few days: since last Thursday the sun has shone and all has been well with the world. Heady temperatures of over 19 degrees were recorded at the weekend and folk have been wandering round the village in shorts and t-shirts. We've seen numerous cases of sunburn amongst customers and Jules arrived yesterday with an attractive red glow about her after tackling 3 Wainwrights on Saturday. We've even stocked up on natural Insect Repellent and After Sun Soother in anticipation of demand. However, after a very promising start this morning (beautiful blue sky and gradual climbing temperature) the sun has now disappeared and I'm now sat shivering in my totally inappropriate sandals. I'm going to log on to Metcheck for a quick weather update.........phew, bright sunshine reappearing on Thursday and no rain forecasted....hang on, what's this????? Snow showers forecasted for April the 22nd. Surely not!!!!
Louise
#fb

Summer's coming: the flies are back

What a grotty Easter weekend we had weatherwise. There was only one decent day, Sunday, and I was asked by countless tourists what they could do to keep dry other than visit the World of Beatrix Potter, the answer being not a lot if they didn't have a car (although I find a bit of retail therapy to be the best pastime). Yesterday, the local paper reported that the Wild Animal Park in Dalton had had its worst Easter in 12 years and certainly the weather, once again, proved to be the dampener (literally) on what should have been the kick start to the tourist season. No matter, today the weather is glorious (brave men have been spotted in shorts and sandals) and is forecasted to be good to the end of next weekend. That'll explain why flies have suddenly appeared in the shop  - they've got their eyes on Metcheck and have ventured forth only to discover they should have put on their vests. It's not that warm yet and several have perished without the aid of a swift swipe from any handy magazine. It'll be the wasps next....
Louise

my hawthorn bush

When we were setting up the shop nearly 2 years ago I noticed on my daily trip up to Bowness in May a beautiful hawthorn bush standing alone in a field just past the Hill of Oaks caravan site. In full bloom at the time, it was a majestic site and I began to always look out for it on the way to work. Last year it didn't produce any blossom but it is a bonny bush, about 20' tall and a lovely shape. Today, I noticed that it looks a little bit plumper than its normal winter shape and can only speculate that it's getting ready to produce leaves. So, despite the huge drop in temperature today and the low lying snow in the Langdales, I'm thinking the better weather really is just around the corner and we can finally say farewell to cold, cold days.
Incidentally, after a very shaky start this morning with a bit of snow, a bit of sleet and a bucket of rain, the sun is now shining..yippee
Louise