Living, Working & Exploring in the Heart of Argyll
Jilly Wilson
Owner / Manager of The Square Peg, Colchester Square, Lochgilphead, Argyll. Gifts shops, sandwich bar and online store. www.thesquarepegonline.co.uk
HOATA: You own and manage the fabulous row of gift shops with the sandwich bar that is literally sandwiched between them in Lochgilphead. The Square Peg has been around for well over 30 years, how did you first get involved?
JW: I think it might be closer to 50 years. . . I’d always been attracted to The Square Peg Shops. My mum worked in a wee gift shop when I was young and I have inherited a love of ‘stuff’ from her, from her friends, and from my grandma. I enjoy collecting and curating beautiful things in my own home, and I’ve grown up with a strong tradition of gift-giving. Also, I love food - and especially fresh, home-made food – so really the paths of this business and mine were destined to cross!
HOATA: You have such a wide range of gifts and homeware, what inspires your choices?
JW: I’d like to say I have a keen eye for what will sell, and that I’m disciplined about the items I buy but, frankly, it’s impossible to pinpoint my method if I have such a thing!
I love design, and I’m certainly led by my own taste, personality and passion for a product, but can I say what makes a thing beautiful? Not really. I put a lot of thought and care into making sure the things I select are of good quality - whether locally hand-made or manufactured by larger design-led brands.
I like to mix well known brands that my customers know they can always find at The Square Peg, with much smaller quantities of ‘one-off’ gifts and homewares that have unique appeal and keep the shop interesting.
I think it’s important to have products that can’t easily be found anywhere else. I also increasingly focus on sustainability and I have some cracking suppliers on that front – it makes me feel good to stock sustainable products and they, in turn, make giftgiving more meaningful.
Bottom line? A lot of the time I just buy with my gut feelings – and sometimes I’m told by my amazing staff or customers what they want – most of the time it seems to work . . .
