It was meant to be…
I had always admired the beautiful Victorian shopfront of Chirgwins with it’s large ornate windows, pretty mosaic front step and wonderful original wall cabinetry inside… so when the opportunity arrived to take on this unique Scillonian property in this prime position, we couldn’t miss our chance.
There were many late nights and full sketchbooks planning ideas for the layout and decor; how to dress the shelves, window displays, floor space and the atmosphere we hoped to create for our clients. From the relevance of the artwork on the walls to the importance of particular books dotted around the studio, each aspect finely thought through in order to curate the whole experience of what makes Sophie Hooper Jewellery…
After a long winter of renovation (learning plenty of new skills along the way!) we transformed the shop floor upstairs and built a new big workshop downstairs. Dave and I opened the doors in April. We managed to be ready for the season and the response was far more reassuring than we could have imagined.
It was a natural step to take as the business grew and the larger premises with a better location meant Dave could come on board and run the shop floor, enabling me to focus on making the jewellery. The balance has worked really well and, as I could happily talk to customers about jewellery and what inspires my work all day long, having Dave front of house means I can actually get some work done!
As September sinks in, the to do lists for winter start to appear; the completion of building the workshop downstairs and most importantly getting to work on new design ideas for the collections, and we can’t wait.
Thankyou to everyone who visited our new studio. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and meet plenty of new ones too - we’re so grateful to all our lovely customers for all your support this season.
Sophie x
