A gift shop in Keswick that supports artists and makers in Cumbria and beyond is to close its “physical doors” to focus on online sales.
Cherrydidi, which has an outlet on St John’s Street and another in Ambleside, has a note on its door in the north Lakes town which states that the business is not closing but is “choosing to support artists differently”.
An online post from owners Jean and Ade Harmer says: “Despite our turnover being a whopping £750,000 in 2022, the management and overheads of running our physical stores became untenable.
“Cherrydidi Online Shop offers the same great gifts and art from the same artists and makers but is a more viable business model.”
The couple set up their first Cherrydidi shop at Priest’s Mill, Caldbeck, in 2012, with a focus on helping artists and makers from across Cumbria and beyond to start up their own businesses and grow sustainable careers. They moved to Keswick in 2012 and opened a second shop in Ambleside in 2018.
The business built on Jean’s background in social enterprise, including running an eco travel business in Nepal and supporting women to get a start in selling their own home-made products. Through delivering business start-up programmes in rural Cumbria, Ghana and India a project called Trade in Action brought five Cumbrian and five Ghanaian small creative businesses together and from this Cherrydidi was born.
‘Didi’ is a term of respectfulness given to older women in Nepal. ‘Cherry’ was chosen after a gift of cherries from Ade to Jean.
