A year on after a major move from the former ‘Wilton Shopping Village’, The Courtyard Marketplace has made many improvements.
Known for its dedication to sourcing the finest quality British food, unique gifts, and eco-friendly refill detergents, the store has become an important part of the community.
Valley News visited the shop just after the owners’ first birthday, curious to know how the decision to relocate had benefited them and their customers and what changes had been made a year on.
The shop is run by the father and daughter team Andrew and Wendy.
Since moving, the business has grown its customer base and the amount of products in stock.
Some of the new products include Purbeck ice cream, diffusers, eco-wrapping paper, handmade jigsaws, and Field Good, a premium frozen ready meal most recently added to celebrate the shop’s birthday. A new product will also be released this year called Bee Fayre and they plan to release more soon. “Watch this space”, Wendy said.
There are many more regular customers because the location of the shop is more accessible to customers.
Another major benefit was the landlord, Wendy said: “The landlord leaves us alone to do our own thing, so we have a lot of freedom.”
The most popular products are Twanger cheese made in Glastonbury, chutney, curds, and the new range of frozen food Field Goods.
They also spoke about the challenges they have faced since moving. The most obvious was the cost of living crisis causing people to be more mindful of how much they spend, having a knock-on effect. Also, the change of location and customers finding the new store was another major challenge.
What makes The Courtyard Marketplace unique to its competitors is their customer-service style, their personalities and the returning customers they become friends with because they visit often.
The shop has a range of customers and relies on local support to keep going. However, there have been customers who travel from further away, including tourists who like to come back.
There is an online store but sales mainly come through the shop because customers usually prefer to go into the shop. Some customers have travelled to the store after finding them online too. They previously had a cheese pre-order click-and-collect service that worked well.
“There are no plans to open any new stores, we like it in Wilton,” Andrew and Wendy said, confidently, and they have high hopes for 2024.
“We want to continue to establish the shop and be part of the growing Wilton community,” Andrew emphasised.
