The Cottage is one of Ormskirk’s hidden retail gems, tucked away in one of Ormskirk’s unique cobbled courtyards is this wonderful quaint gift shop.

From the minute you step inside you are drawn into an Aladdin’s Cave of gifts, cards and special goods.

Owners Janet and Hilton are proud to be celebrating a very special anniversary this year! With 30 years of trading in Ormskirk under their belt, we asked them a few questions:

Lovely blue planters and door of The Cottage gift shop

Q&A with The Cottage

Tell us about more about The Cottage

The Cottage is a quirky card and gift shop located in a picturesque, cobbled courtyard. We stock unique gifts and beautiful cards in an environment that provides a desirable browsing and shopping experience.

Our business also offers bespoke picture framing and a stained glass design and restoration service through our other business, Hilton Peacock Stained Glass.

Why did you choose Ormskirk as a location for your business?

We chose Ormskirk for the location of our shop because it was a busy, vibrant market town, which we felt would best suit our business. After 30 years of trading here we think it’s been a great location for us. Ormskirk has so much to offer both us and our customers.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to start an independent business?

The best advice we would give to anyone starting an independent business would be to do your research and provide a service or product which makes you stand out from the competition.

Have you faced any challenges over the years? How have you overcome them?

The recession and consequent reduction in footfall during quieter times of the year has been our greatest challenge, but we survive it by diversifying into other product lines and working hard at what we do best.

Social media has enabled us to reach a wider audience and has helped us gain new customers from further afield.

Tell us about your customers

Our customers are both local and from further afield in Lancashire and Merseyside. They return to us as they say we are the only shop like us they know. We provide a shopping experience that’s much more relaxed and quirky than the high street stores. This experience encourages our customers to return time after time.

Our customers love that we make the effort to order individual items for them and provide a service where we can personalise messages on helium balloons.

As one of Ormskirk’s longest independent retailers, what do you feel has made The Cottage so successful?

We feel the success of the business is due to constantly doing research, changing and developing with the current trends. We also provide our customers with quality, desirable products from smaller suppliers. These items are not readily available in the larger chain stores.

This, coupled with a pleasurable shopping environment and good customer service has encouraged our customers to keep returning and recommend The Cottage to others.