We'll get straight to the point (rare I know)! We've got a bit of a style crush on this week's Four Thoughts subject. It's Resident and it's a beautiful lifestyle store on Catherine Hill in Frome.
This newly-opened, perfectly-positioned oasis of cool stuff is well worth a look and we caught up with owners James Borley and Greg Avis for a bit of a chat. Of course we asked them the 4 questions we thought you'd love to know the answers to... so here we go!
1. What was the inspiration behind Resident and behind setting up in Frome?
We started Resident just under a year ago in London. We'd been making and selling lights under our sister brand, The Electrical Shop, and had fallen in love with loads of other designers and makers that we'd met whilst setting up our own business. We decided to bring them all together and open a shop.
In August last year, we had a pop-up shop in Brixton and set ourselves up online. Then, in December last year, we headed back to the West Country to visit family for Christmas. We found ourselves wandering around Frome and eventually discovering a beautiful Grade II listed townhouse up for sale, right in the heart of Catherine Hill - we were sold straight away and here we are!
2. What are your absolute favourite pieces in the shop right now?
Favourite pieces right now would have to be the ceramics by Louise Madzia, the super tasty chocolate by Ocelot and the brand new range of sunglasses from Swedish brand Monokel. We're hoping we'll get some more sun very soon, so we can wear them ourselves!
3. A little birdie tells us you have big plans for the store, including some events. Can you share a little bit more about what's up your sleeve? :)
We do have some ideas, including events and evening workshops, but nothing is set in stone yet. One thing that will definitely happen though is that the store will eventually be about twice the size it is now. Later this year, the partition wall on the ground floor will come down and we'll expand into the rest of space.
4. Tell us a secret about Resident that no-one else knows!
We very nearly called the shop 'Neighbourhood' but discovered another shop in London had just opened with pretty much the same name, so we ditched it and went for Resident instead!
A great Resident to have in any neighbourhood if you ask us! ;) We'll be popping along again for sure and if you want to keep up with the going's on at the store, the guys can be found on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram - or visit them from Thursday - Saturday 10am to 6pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm (first Sunday of the month).
Happy browsing and shopping ... I'm off to dream about chocolate and sunshine!
