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Retailer Face To Face: The Hollies
Best Of The Best Having started the business in 1959 with a vegetable stand and an honesty box on the side of the road, The Hollies in Little Budworth recently celebrated its milestone 60th anniversary with the destination retail complex - which includes gift shop The Barn, and the newly opened The Living Store - continuing to go from strength to strength. PG&H headed to rural Cheshire to meet director and co-owner Ed Cowap to hear more about what entices people from a 40-50 mile radius to head into Little Budworth to do their shopping. The Hollies’ Ed Cowap may have worked alongside his parents Hilary and Richard since he was a schoolboy, but he still relishes every single moment he spends at the inspirational Hollies retail complex in Little Budworth. “I love working here,” he says simply. “Although we’re open seven days a week and we all do very long hours, I still get the most fantastic buzz. The job is so varied and there are so many fantastic opportunities to grow the business. Plus, I meet such interesting people from all walks of life, with many becoming good friends over the years.” With the Hollies 60th anniversary such a special year for the family business, there
has, of course, been much to celebrate. As well as Ed, his brother Phil and sister Suzie (who presides over The Hollies’ other site in Lower Stretton) their 87-year-old father Richard still works at the Hollies seven days a week where he is renowned for his homegrown fir trees, handmade Christmas
wreaths, hanging baskets and shrubs, plus some 5,000 pumpkins for Halloween. There is also Ed’s partner Sean Camm, in charge of merchandising, (assisted by another family member, Beverley Cowap). Sean is also behind the brand new The Living Store, an upmarket lifestyle outlet that opened last
New At The Hollies Following the success of The Lifestyle Store, there are currently exciting plans underway to open a cookshop at Easter, to complement the award winning Hollies Farm Shop whose frontage will be undergoing a refurbishment this month. “We’re winners of the Best Local Produce Shop category in the Taste Cheshire awards, so our cookware products will reflect that, and will also link into the fact that we have our own butchery,” says Ed. “We’ll be training our staff to know the products inside out, holding lots of demonstrations, tastings and food festivals throughout the year. Aside from stocking major brands such as Le Creuset and KitchenCraft, we’ll also be looking for quirky products, such as pizza ovens for use in the home, and, of course, we’ll also be looking to cross-promote products.”
Top: The Greats award winning The Barn gift shop. Inset: Generations two, three and four of the Cowap family, who are currently celebrating The Hollies 60th anniversary. Ed Cowap (centre) is sixth from the left.
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