The shop owners in Saffron Walden aiming to give customers something a little different

Paul Palmer and his partner Kirsty Sinclair opened their new shop, The Other One, on September 1 in The Cockpit, behind the Market Square.

Kirsty, who has worked in retail for her entire career, runs another store in Braintree called 64 and they both agreed that the new shop in Saffron Walden would always be known as ‘the other one’ - hence, the name.

Paul had a slightly different career working in the public sector for 17 years before he ‘reinvented’ himself earlier this year to work with Kirsty in the creative industry.

The duo’s ethos is supporting independent makers, designers and purveyors of different and they plan to host talks, art shows and perhaps even cocktail evenings.

“Our stock is stuff that you won’t find in many places - we pick what we have quite carefully,” Kirsty said.

Kirsty and Paul choose to stock a lot of their products from local artists and items which are ethically made - they even sell vegan mirrors. The shop sells everything from art and jewellery to beaded door curtains and colourful dinosaurs.

“Everything that’s in here, I know who made it and how it’s been made,” Paul said. “The large companies we work with, I try to check if it’s ethically sourced.”

Paul wants to turn the basement of the building into a space which can be used for events and for the public to use. The vast space downstairs includes a tunnel which Paul says used to lead to the King’s Arms pub on Market Hill. The tunnel is now, unfortunately, blocked off.

Talking about why they chose to set up shop in Saffron Walden, Kirsty said: “There’s a real sense of community. The town puts on all sorts of great events - I’ve never known a town like it.”

“I really want this to work. We want to create a different shop with a space downstairs for events,” Paul said. “And if people want to use the space, they are more than welcome to use it free of charge.”