Meet ICR 2023’s Community Crusader: The Mousetrap Cheese Shop

The Mousetrap Cheese Shop was opened 35 years ago by the Hindle family who run the local Monkland Cheese Dairy. Partners Claire and Matt Knowles bought the three shops in Leominster, Ludlow and Hereford from the Hindles 10 years ago.

Speaking to Inspirational Cheese Retailers, Claire says, “We had decided to buy a business and spent eight months living with Matt’s mum after we’d sold our house looking at businesses. We went looking at all sorts of delis and finally came to see the Mousetrap, although it was out of our price range so we dismissed it for a while.

“We were so enchanted with Herefordshire, we thought it would be a wonderful place to raise our little family so we begged and borrowed any bit of money that we could from family and the bank to secure the business.

The fact that there were three shops gave us scope to work together but not need to be on top of each other all the time, it was also really important to us to be able to organise ourselves so we could collect the kids from school and have a good quality of family life with them so the three shops with their experienced staff gave us that opportunity.

“We also saw that there was lots of scope to expand the business online and we’ve developed the website and online sales from nothing to now be taking nearly as much as we do in our busiest shops.”

Making community connections
Being located in Herefordshire, the Mousetrap is well-placed to offer a wide selection of cheeses from around the UK and beyond. As Claire explains, “I think the huge variety of cheese we sell is probably the main comment we get. We sell a massive variety online and that’s only a part of the range in the shops, well over 100 types of cheese at any one time.

“We pride ourselves on how we take care of the cheese from the sourcing, maturing and care in the counter, all the way to how we post it in insulated boxes with ice packs so that it travels safely for our online sales. Our shop customers love being able to have a sample of course, and it’s a great way of introducing new cheeses to people without them having to risk buying something they don’t like.

“We have a great reputation for quality and as we’re based in Herefordshire with comparatively low overheads, our online prices are much less than a lot of our competitors’, so altogether it’s a great base to successfully run our business.”

Claire’s stores are certainly fixtures of the community, and it is interactions with her customers that really boost her serotonin. “We’re so lucky with our customers, it’s just such a nice place to work”, she tells Inspirational Cheese Retailers. “We’re blessed with a lovely group of staff who have such great relationships with our regulars and a lovely way with visitors, it’s just such a fantastic environment to be in, and everyone is happy to come into the cheese shop!

“We love sharing our joy of cheese, it’s great to do cheese tastings for wedding cakes and it’s so rewarding giving someone a taste of something new that they then love. Making sure people go away with something they know they’re going to really enjoy is very satisfying.”

Find out more about the team by reading their profile in the latest issue of Inspirational Cheese Retailers.