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Retailer Face To Face: Mooch, Northamptonshire
Mooching Around
Left: Delighted smiles from Rachel and Paul Roberts, co-owners of MOOCH who are shown with their Greats trophy. Below: The concession in Bell. Bottom left: The newly opened store in Olney.
When Rachel met Paul, they were colleagues at retail giant Dixons, both working in retail operations but with divergent roles. Now, 18 years on, they’re married, and the co-owners of three gift shops in Northamptonshire - St Giles Street, Bell and Towcester - as well as one in Olney, Milton Keynes, with the Towcester and Olney stores opening within weeks of each this summer. PG&H caught up with the dynamic duo who recently won the Best Newcomer Midlands, North & Scotland category at The Greats in May to find out what gives them the edge as independents. In the age old tradition, looking for a gift for a friend, and being unable to find one, was the catalyst that saw husband and wife Paul and Rachel Roberts set up an online gift shop during a six month sabbatical in 2016. They subsequently opened their first gift shop, MOOCH on St Giles Street in Northampton, in May 2017, with a concession in Bell following in 2018. A third shop in Towcester and a fourth shop in Olney both opened in 2019. “Rachel had had the itch for a while, and while we were taking a few months out from our busy consulting jobs, we did some local gift fairs and markets, continuing to test the water by launching our own online gift store,” explains Paul. “It did so well that a few
months later we started to look for premises. Having spent the previous 15 years as colleagues and store managers for Dixons, and before that working in retail as teenagers, we had been through every facet of retail so felt we knew the ropes.” However, finding premises was challenging. “Despite having retail in our blood, managing agents dismissed us because we had no history to fall back on,” Rachel explains. “The shop we eventually ended up with on St Giles Street was our third choice, but it couldn’t have worked out better as there is lots more space on the first and second floor, which allowed us to expand six months after we opened, literally doubling our retail space overnight.” From the off, the concept of MOOCH has been to enable customers to find gifts that are not available anywhere else. Currently, products range from decorative accessories, home fragrancing and bath and body to jewellery, fashion accessories, clothing (ponchos) and children’s products, as well as gift books and greeting cards.
New introductions in the run-up to Christmas will include hand puppets for both adults and children, Intelex Warmies hot water bottles and bespoke wooden boxes and trays. “Our shops sell beautiful, good value giftware and we spend a lot of time editing the range to make sure our customers find it easy to choose the best gifts for their friends. Best price, best choice, best service,” says Rachel. “Our gift books for example, are among our best sellers as they are an easy purchase for those hard to buy for friends and family. Currently we are selling a huge number of books about mindfulness as well as about living plastic free.” Rachel admits to loving candles but focuses on quality products, made with natural wax and quality fragrance. “A priority Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide
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