Our guide to selling homeware

While space is often a premium at fine food retail establishments, it’s well worth considering adding a home and gifting range to your offering to not only delight your existing customer base but also to attract new ones in search of quality gifts for loved ones and themselves. Plus, by widening the selection you provide you might well widen your customer base, too, and make your shop a destination for shoppers from nearby and further afield. 

One fine food retailer which has done just that is Suffolk Food Hall, based just outside of Ipswich. “Since the Food Hall has opened, we have worked hard to create an inspiring home department for our customers,” begins Nick Punter, marketing manager at Suffolk Food Hall. “The original idea was to create a one stop shop for food and home interiors by linking together our food, home, and garden departments. We have achieved this through complementary products such as our Kadai range, which we link with our butchery through promotional offers for our customers.”

Not long after opening, the team realised that the move into homewares reaped great rewards. “Within our retail sector, home contributes a considerable proportion of our turnover and generates footfall across the whole site. For our customers, it is the perfect addition to the Food Hall, allowing them to be inspired whilst visiting us.” Offering a wide range of home and gifting ideas is key. “Our home department attracts all customers and caters to everyone’s needs, including children’s toys, gifting, garden, and soft furnishings,” says Nick.

While you might think food and homewares aren’t natural bedfellows, by choosing your suppliers wisely they can support each other – and your philosophy – well. “The core values of our business include using local suppliers, showcasing seasonal items, and sharing the story behind all of our products with our customers,” says Nick “This runs across all the departments, and we are proud to stock many local and artisan producers. As an example, we have recently launched a new candle range by Elsie & Tom from Suffolk, which has now become one of our best sellers.” 

Suffolk Food Hall’s buyers and retail team work closely together to ensure the right mix of products for their customers, and attend local and national shows as well as listening to customer feedback to help shape their ranges. “By attending, we are able to build on our relationships with existing suppliers and forge new collaborations. We are often the first retailer to stock small artisan suppliers’ products, helping them to launch their business,” says Nick.

Bringing some elements of its homeware selection into the food area has benefited Suffolk Food Hall, he continues. “We merchandise a selection of our home products in the Food Hall to demonstrate how they can be used at home, creating an inspirational shopping experience for our customers.”

Another retailer renowned for its homewares selection is Daylesford Organic, where it is “an integral part of our overall offering,” says a spokesperson. “Since starting over 40 years ago, we have evolved from an organic farm into Daylesford as we know it today. The inclusion of household goods and homewares, which began just a year after opening, has grown to encompass a wide range of items including table linens, crockery, glassware, kitchen items, candles, toys, and gifts as well as a dedicated garden space and plant nursery. These products are crafted in collaboration with skilled makers, emphasising natural materials and sustainable practices. Each piece is carefully selected to reflect our ethos and enhance the customer experience.”

Daylesford’s evolution to include homewares has been pivotal in establishing it as a destination, they continue. “The farm’s transformation into a destination is complemented by the extensive home and garden range, which attract visitors interested in sustainable and high-quality household items. It allows our customers to immerse themselves in the Daylesford ethos, extending beyond food to encompass a holistic approach to living well.”

As at Suffolk Food Hall, Daylesford’s homewares offering is produced in line with the business’s overall mission and messaging, ensuring that it perfectly complements the food hall. “The philosophy behind our home and food offerings is deeply intertwined,” explains the spokesperson. “Both product lines are curated with a focus on natural materials and craftsmanship, reflecting the farm’s ethos of organic, responsible practices that don’t just protect the world around us, but have a positive impact on it too. Our teams work collaboratively to ensure that every product, whether it’s food or homeware, upholds our standards of quality and aligns with our mission to promote a balanced, eco-conscious lifestyle.”

5 homewares and gifts that will help you stand out from the crowd

1. Cherry Orchard Publishing Grace and Grayson
Greetings card producer Cherry Orchard Publishing introduces its well loved and in demand range, Grace and Grayson. This card range offers stunning artistic designs featuring hobbies, nature and wildlife coupled with an eye catching gold envelope. As Eco-conscious Publishers, Cherry Orchard has an Affiliation with 9 trees, a non profit organisation whose vision is to tackle climate change by restoring woodland habitats. Grace and Grayson greeting cards are sure to bring a fresh focal point to your store, enticing customers to come and investigate all that is on offer. 

2. Falcon Enamelware 3 Pint Jug
One of the best-sellers from Falcon Enamelware’s range of high quality enamel products, this three pint jug comes in a wide range of colours to suit all households. It is incredibly versatile with a huge number of uses within the house so is suitable for display within a number of areas of a retailer. It’s ideal for serving chilled drinks or for displaying flowers as a vase. Like the rest of the Falcon Enamelware range, this jug is of premium quality so is destined to last for years.

3. Sous Chef Saint-Germain Green Gingham Picnic Basket
Perfect for alfresco eating, this picnic basket is a classic design that will stand the test of time year-on-year. It contains four porcelain plates, four sets of cutlery, four wine classes, four napkins, salt and pepper shakes, a corkscrew/bottle opener and a small bag for storing dirty crockery, making it the ultimate picnic tool for customers to take on the road. 

4. Stellar Form 12” Pizza Paddle Board
An attractive and functional way for retailers to cash in on the make-your-own pizza trend, this paddle board is made using recycled and compacted paper fibres for a finish that won’t fade, split or crack over time. It is naturally antibacterial, guaranteeing a hygienic surface for DIY pizza preparation. This board is also dishwasher safe and designed to withstand temperatures up to 180C.

5. Arcana Art Tapestry Blanket
Made using recycled cotton by highly skilled weavers on jacquard looms, this blanket is inspired by the natural world and comes with a printed Nature Connection Guide which shares information about the inspiration and origination of the work. Created with an heirloom mindset, the blanket is designed to be handed down through the generations.