Gift Focus - Mar/Apr 2018 (Issue 106)

Tell us a bit of background about Frugi. Kurt and I founded Cut4Cloth (our original name) back in 2004 when at the time we were the only people in the world making clothing specifically for cloth nappies. As soon as we had launched our website, we were immediately inundated by retailers wanting to stock us so we started to supply them too. We wanted to show the world that you can create a great brand whilst upholding strong ethical values so we did just that! Our clothes are now instantly recognisable by bright, vibrant colours with playful characters and clever details such as reversible shapes and 3D designs, which make our clothes as fun as they are both comfortable and practical. Where is Frugi stocked? We currently sell via our website welovefrugi.com and through more than 600 trade customers globally creating a movement of like-minded, ethically-driven individuals and teams who believed in great brands and great business. What are the reasons behind opening a physical store? Customers were able to come into our barn at Gear Farm back in 2006 to buy our range. We then opened a new Frugi Shop when we moved offices in 2011 but it was a cramped space next to our customer services team – not ideal for customers or us! Demand was high so we very quickly outgrew it. Our aim for the new shop is to stock a much bigger range but to also use it as a test bed to support our retailers better. We can now test out new ideas and get first-hand consumer feedback making sure the support we offer is tried and tested. How did you prepare to open a bricks and mortar store, and what challenges did you overcome? This project was something we talked about for a long time and when a building became vacant alongside our HQ in Helston we jumped at the chance to make the project a reality. It was months of planning but we learnt on the go (often the best way) and overcame challenges using our imagination to find a way around. As with everything we do, we wanted to make it sustainable – we minimised our carbon footprint where at all possible so we sourced reclaimed scaffold boards and recycled materials. We couldn’t find the right type of fittings that worked brilliantly for childrenswear, so we had a friendly local blacksmith make them for us! What advice would you give to someone setting up a new store? Stay true to your brand ethos, make sure that the finished result is really the physical embodiment of what you believe your brand represents and then go for it! Ours evolved as we went, trying things out along the way. Don’t be afraid to change your mind on a look if it doesn’t feel right when it comes together. How do you combine managing a wholesale business with a retail outlet? Our shop is not designed to compete with our Frugi has just opened its flagship store. We speak to owner Lucy Jewson about the wholesale and consumer sides of the company B R I G H T the future’s Lucy and Kurt Jewson 84 giftfocus