A COLLABORATION between two former neighbouring businesses has created an exciting mixed offering of cafe, pantry, apothecary and gifts in Barney.
Former Oswell’s shop owner Lisa Wilkinson has returned to The Bank after a stint at Raby Castle, and has joined forces with Simon Adamson and Robert Dunbar, of Artisan Corner, to form a unique shopping and dining experience.
Ironically, after Ms Wilkinson closed Oswell’s more than a year ago, Artisan Corner moved its dining section into her old shop.
However, they were forced to move that part of the business when the building was being sold – but by coincidence Ruby&D, just above their shop, closed down making that space available to them.
Ms Wilkinson said: “It was sometime in May that I was chatting to the guys and we were talking about their plans about moving upstairs and how exciting it was going to be. They suggested the idea of doing a collaboration downstairs with their retail and my retail.”
Her part of the enterprise has been named Two Little Windows Apothecary.
She said: “It is apothecary in the loosest sense of the word, so we have two or three apothecary ranges interspersed with lovely gifts – it is essentially just a shop selling lovely stuff.”
Mr Adamson said the idea of the two retail sections sharing the downstairs simply “mashed well” .
Moving the dining offer upstairs, however, was a challenge.
Mr Adamson said: “The difficult part was how we serviced it, which is why we have put in a lift from the kitchen to upstairs to take the food – we wouldn’t have been able to take it if we couldn’t have done that.”
All of the redecoration of the area was done by Mr Dunbar to create a perfect atmosphere for the space, which has gone down well with customers since it was opened last month.
He said: “Somebody said, ‘I’ve been travelling a lot in America and I felt like I was in one of the cafes in San Francisco’.
“It is quite chilled, that’s what everybody has said so far. The colours, the layout – it is quite relaxed and cosy.”
Ms Wilkinson opened Two Little Windows about three weeks ago and although the range is different from Oswell’s, one feature remains the same and that is her dog Bob who accompanies her to work and is welcoming customers.
She said: “It has been really good so far, with a really good reception.
“Lots of old customers have been visiting and lots of new people are finding us.
“They love the collaboration – they love that they can wander between the two offers, they can come and find some beautifully packed breadsticks and then also get a nice scented candle, or some nice hand-cream.”
The collaboration sees not only the return of a shop to The Bank, but should also draw more visitors to that part of the town.
Mr Adamson said: “We knew that was a better frontage for us, to be seen from right at the top of the town – that is the main reason why we took upstairs.”
The resulting united business sees Artisan Corner Cafe, Kitchen and Bar occupying the upper floor, and Artisan Pantry and Two Little Windows Apothecary, sharing the lower level.
Ms Wilkinson said: “We are both passionate about sourcing quality products that are not massed produced.”
