Shop Front: Kids Emporium Has Confidence in Guildford

Published on: 11 Aug, 2016
Updated on: 17 Aug, 2016

In White Lion Walk – the first Kids Emporium store to open in the UK

By Alice Fowler

Mothers to be and parents of young children have a new destination store in Guildford – Kids Emporium, which opened three weeks ago in White Lion Walk.

While the brand is already well known in South Africa, this is the first Kids Emporium in the UK: something of a coup for Guildford, and a vote of confidence in the town from local mother of two, Storm Copestake.

Now living in Cobham, Storm moved back to the UK from Johannesburg a year ago. “What struck me straight away was that there was nowhere interesting to buy baby products,’ she says. ‘We are giving personal service and advice, and selling well-designed products and gifts you won’t find anywhere else.”

Some of the, “well-designed products and gifts you won’t find anywhere else”.

The shop – which joins existing baby- and child-focussed shops such as Mothercare, JoJo Maman Bebe, Trotters and recent opening Lemons or Limes – recognises Guildford’s growing appeal as a centre for young families.

Romper suits and matching headgear

“We looked at a lot of different places, such as Cobham, Kingston and Wimbledon,” says Storm. “We felt that Guildford was very much a family environment, with such a nice feeling to it. Coming to White Lion Walk has been like joining a community. Everyone’s extremely helpful and friendly.”

The shop sells everything an expectant or recent parent might need, from well-designed maternity clothes to cots and changing tables, travel systems, and a wealth of practical products from bibs to leather baby shoes.

While the store has an upmarket feel, its prices are surprisingly reasonable. For those who might think twice about splashing out £75 on a child’s hand-embroidered party dress, there are plenty of less pricey alternatives, such as a felt monkey-shaped rattle, produced by a women’s foundation in South Africa, for £7.

Storm is keen to champion ‘mumpreneurs’, producing unique and creative items from their homes. She already stocks hand knitted baby shoes and colourful cushions, both made in London, and a range of memory boxes and art folders, made by two mothers in Hampton Hill. Other locally made items, she hopes, will follow.

It’s important to have a proper compartment for your favourite cuddly toy.

“We’ve had such great feedback so far,” says Storm. “The main difficulty we’re facing is that we’ve opened in summer, when all the shops around us have sales. We also opened just after the Brexit vote. It can only get better. I’m very positive.”

Storm Copestake

Herself the mother of girls aged four and three, Storm owns the master franchise for Kids Emporium in the UK with her husband Cliff. “There’s potential to open other stores in Surrey,” she believes. “Within a year we may be ready to sell the first franchise.”

In the meantime she is working hard to maintain her shop’s serene and well-ordered atmosphere. “We opened three weeks ago by the skin of our teeth. By the end of this week we should be as calm as we appear.”