Cilla and Camilla reports a strong start for its second dedicated cookshop, which opened in the Dorset town of Bridport in April. “Trade has been excellent since we opened, directly after the spring lockdown,” reports director Richard Barker. “This mirrors what we have seen in our Sherborne cookshop, where business has also been really strong.” He describes Bridport as “a lively and busy market town,” that lacked a specialist cookshop.
The new shop – as well as Cilla and Camilla’s existing cookshop in Sherbourne – is benefiting from the staycation summer. “There are many more visitors to West Dorset as the Loire Valley, the Dordogne and Tuscany are largely off limits,” Richard quips.
The decision to open a new shop was influenced by the rising number of home cooks, with: “Many people getting into cooking and baking during periods of lockdown when there were fewer other distractions, and less opportunity to eat out,” acknowledges Richard. He also observes that: “Customers are staying local to our market town locations and making fewer trips to the big regional centres such as Bath, Bristol or Exeter.”
Richard explains: “The shop is directly opposite our gift shop in Bridport. Since April, we’ve been trading from about 800 square foot. Once we have Listed Building consent, we will be knocking through to the adjacent unit and then trading from a total of 1500 square foot.”
Above: Cilla and Camilla’s new cookshop in Bridport.
