The latest artisan bakery pop up outside The Kitchen Range Cookshop in West Wickham attracted hordes of local food lovers. The bread and pastry pop up, which was held last weekend (November 6) was the cookshop’s second bakery event in the last fortnight. Another is planned over the next few weeks, along with another jam and preserves pop up.
The pop ups (launched earlier this year) are part of The Kitchen Range’s Cookery School pre-launch activities, which won the independent cookshop The Excellence in Retailer Initiative Award at last month’s Excellence in Housewares Awards. Other pop ups outside the shop have included locally grown flowers.
Besides bringing customers to the shop door, the pop ups are introducing tutors who will share their expertise at the forthcoming Cookery School, due to open above the cookshop in 2022. The school intends to use only local tutors, collaborating with fellow independent businesses, including artisan bakers and preserve makers.
“The pop ups are a really encouraging sign for what is to come with our school,” notes Lucy Richards, partner at The Kitchen Range. Attracting new followers on social media, and promoted via West Wickham’s local newsletters, Lucy admits that the pop ups “are creating lots of excitement on the High Street and cementing our reputation for always doing something new and innovative.”
Meanwhile, The Kitchen Range has been enhancing the shop with fresh flowers from its new rooftop garden – creating more talking points for its forthcoming Cookery School. The garden was created by the hardworking team during lockdowns, transforming the flat roof outside the new Cookery School room (previously a “dingy stockroom” above the shop). As well as providing a place to relax before classes and for students to eat outside, the garden will be used for foraging workshops. Its fresh herbs and vegetables will be used for recipes in the Cookery School’s classes, demonstrations, and supper clubs. The Kitchen Range has also extended its herb beds to outside its shopfront, which was revamped earlier this year.
Not surprisingly, the transformation of The Kitchen Range’s upstairs space has been a popular theme for its social media stories. Moreover, its homegrown crops (including spinach, rocket, tomatoes, mange tout, sugar snap and sweet peas) have provided stunning additions to the retailer’s Instagram feed.
Top: The popular bakery pop-up outside The Kitchen Range on Saturday (November 6).
