Online boutique housewares stockist Silver Mushroom has seen dramatic expansion due to the rise in online sales during lockdown. Emmie Brookman, social media and marketing manager at online retailer Silver Mushroom reflects on the past few months:
“When lockdown was announced, we were expecting to be super quiet and we had even planned things that my sister Rebecca and I could do with our free-time. It’s safe to say, this was not the case for Silver Mushroom.
We started off the pandemic as a team of just five (three office girls and two packers) and we have now hired 25+ extra ‘Mushrooms’ and moved into a shiny new warehouse. Our sales have blown up, more than we could have ever imagined.
We are so grateful to all of our wonderful customers, and for being able to provide work to so many people who had found themselves without work due to Covid-19. It has been a whirlwind of madness, laughter, excitement and joy, all wrapped up in a pair of rubber gloves and a facemask!
We began by ensuring that our office and warehouse was set up for social distancing and that all staff would be at no risk by coming into work. We then put together our ‘Isolation Essentials’ category to make sure that we would be able provide customers with all the goodies that they need for the difficult time we’ve all been going through.
We have seen lots of customers purchasing full sets of organisational items. I think everybody has been using the time to get their homes in order. Without a doubt, Kilner Jars have been our bestseller; people have been buying jars to store their cereals, toiletries, stationery (you name it!) as well as using them for crafts. Lots of people have felt that having a lovely environment will make being stuck at home a little more bearable.
We’ve also paired with some brand new suppliers so we will be stocking some gorgeous new products that we think our customers will love!”
*For more reflections on lockdown and reopening, see Progressive Housewares’ Food for thought [June pages 20-23], as well as Holly Wilson’s From the frontline [June page 19].
Top: “Isolation Essentials’ as featured on the Silver Mushroom site.
