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Retailer Profile
Nor Way
Back in 2017 Serge Sumerling proudly stepped onto the stage at The Retas greeting card retailer awards to collect the trophy for Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – London for his bijou little card and gift shop in West Norwood. Serge now has good reason to feel doubly proud as he reclaimed that title in the recent Retas awards, in recognition of his second Nor shop, which opened last June, after a six month labour of love for the plucky indie. The locations of the two shops could not be more different. Serge’s original shop is wedged between a very busy road and a main thoroughfare to a railway station. The new retailing sibling, although only a few miles away, is within a delightful parkland, home to a lake, ancient woodlands and various listed buildings dating back to the 17th century. “I live close to the park and like so many 48 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
others really love it. It is a very special place, with a wonderful swimming lake as well as lots of green space,” said Serge. As it was originally an estate, owned by a wealthy timber merchant, in addition to having an impressive mansion it also had some workers’ cottages. Above: Serge Sumerling in the doorway of his Beckenham Place Park shop. Above right: Greeting cards are the “bread and butter” of Nor’s sales says Serge. Left: Beckenham Park is well used and much loved by dogwalkers, families and those swimming and paddle-boarding in or on the lake.
Being an award-winning independent retailer is not a ‘walk in the park’, but in the case of Serge Sumerling, owner of indie Nor, it was a perambulation around his local Beckenham Place Park in South London that resulted in his ambitious restoration project, transforming a derelict 17th century workman’s cottage into fabulous card and gift shop. PG headed to the park for a chat with The Retas 2024 winner of the Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – London.
It was during a walk in the park that Serge spotted that a derelict worker’s cottage in the courtyard entrance to the park, adjacent to a well-used café and education centre, was going out to tender. He immediately spotted its retailing potential. “I had to submit a pitch and was up against some stiff competition, but the fact that I had won The Retas award in 2017 and that I lived locally worked in my favour,” explained Serge. And then the hard work started on the twofloor property, with Serge undertaking a lot of the physical work himself for a compete restoration, culminating in the shop opening last June. “In keeping with the historic feel, I was determined to find some interesting furniture to display the products, keen to recreate a ‘pigeon hole’ approach that was inspired by a trip to Paris,” he added. Being four times the size of the original Nor, when it came to the product selection Serge was excited that he would not only be