Trader Spotlight: Eclectica in Ludlow.

Shropshire Star

We take a look in Eclectica in Ludlow, where if you want something a bit different, clothes, shoes, a bit of bling they have plenty. They even have a mens section too.

Transcript

00:00We are here in Ludlow at Independent Trader Eclectica. Hello Jodie. Hello. So tell us

00:10about Eclectica. What do you sell, what do you do, what's the shop's ethos? Well as the

00:16name suggests we stock an eclectic mix of women's wear, so clothing, accessories,

00:24anything you might need to make a gorgeous outfit and we've been trading

00:28now for about nine, actually it'll be nine years November, and over the time we've

00:32started to expand a little bit on our menswear, so there's some really

00:37beautiful pieces from Dezegual and Orientique, we've also added a couple of

00:42new brands this year, BU and Access, which are just fabulous, so if you haven't come

00:46and had a look please do. That's great, I'm just making a mental note that I've

00:50been pronouncing Dezegual wrong here for years. They've done a really big promotion recently,

00:56my Spanish accent is Dezegual. Right, cool, it's not Dezegual.

01:03We have one lovely customer who can't pronounce it, she calls it Dezegual. But yes, it literally translates to

01:08not equal, Dezegual. Ah, okay, great stuff, I like that. So what's kind of your customer base?

01:15Have you got a solid kind of local base or is it a lot of tourists? How's it work?

01:20We're really fortunate here in Ledlow, the local residents, myself included, are really

01:25passionate about our independent high street, we've got a really nice mix of

01:29independents and chains, it really works, and of course we have the fabulous market,

01:32so we have our regulars, but we are supported by and do need the tourist

01:39trade, and we get local bus companies that come in, you know, day trippers to

01:44those that are coming for weekends and longer stays, so it's a really nice balance.

01:48And with what's going on in the town, kind of, because it's, to those in the know, it's

01:55on the national radar, but I'm sure as a trader you'd always welcome more and more

02:01people coming, do you feel it's kind of getting, you know, with the concerts and

02:05that, the castle, that can only be a good thing for traders, can it?

02:07Oh my gosh, you know, there is something going on every month, if not every week,

02:10here in Ledlow, so I generally think there is something for everyone, from the

02:14amazing headline acts that the castle are bringing here, they're also doing the

02:18outdoor cinema over the summer, but of course we've got the food festival, which

02:21everybody knows and loves, we have a winter festival at the end of November

02:26to sort of spark the Christmas season, we have the assembly rooms, so there's cinema,

02:31there's theatre, there's live music down at the brewery, I mean there is always

02:34something going on. It's great isn't it? So yes, I think, you know, we historically have

02:39been a sort of stopping point to those going to Wales, but we are a destination in

02:42ourselves now. So what, a little bit about yourself, so before you were doing this nine years ago,

02:47what were you up to? So I'm like an awful lot of people in Ludlow, because it's a market town,

02:53I'm in Lewis, so I went to university in London and I didn't leave, so I bought my career in publishing down there,

03:02and a pin in a map moved me to this part of the world, and I haven't regretted that move,

03:10I think the skills that I learned in publishing, so design, commissioning photo shoots, all of that,

03:16really do translate to this role.

03:19It's great, well it's a beautiful looking shop. So there's a couple of interesting bits of

03:25jewellery here, just talk us through what they're made of.

03:27Yeah, so one of the things we like to do is support local makers, so this is a lady called Lynn,

03:32her business is called Unearthed, and she finds bits of pottery here in Ludlow,

03:37and turns them into amazing gorgeous pieces of jewellery. So we've got earrings, necklaces, rings.

03:45And what about this glass that's from the river team?

03:48Yeah, so she, you know like you do with the sea glass, you find bits of bottle and things

03:54that have ended up in the river, so she works with it in the same way, so you just get really

03:59remarkable colours. So if I was going to say right, pick two items that you yourself would

04:06be taking home, if you were shopping today. What would you be picking, go on, show us.

04:11There's already a couple of pieces, so this suit, the cherries, I just adore, because it's

04:16clothes that make you smile, and I think if you want something a little bit more chic, if

04:23you've got a wedding or something coming up, something from our new range, which is

04:28a gel, stands for angel, that is a stunning dress, you can just see the details.

04:33Great stuff. Well thank you Jodie, and good luck

04:36in future business. Thank you. Thank you very much.

04:39Thank you very much.

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