Blog

. We’ve been hearing a lot on the news recently about profits and turnover being down in the run up to Christmas for high street retailers like John Lewis and M&S. Well we’d like to give you a bit of good news - that’s not the case here at the Mulberry Tree! In fact it is quite the opposite! Our turnover for Nov and Dec was up by 13% on the previous year and our profits were pretty healthy too!  For us indies it can get quite disheartening when we continually hear about the demise of the British High Street...

Latin ēvolvere to unroll, open, unfold. However, much we’d like the world of retail to stop sometimes so we can catch our breath the reality is that if we do it’s likely to die a quick death and the gallery along with it. I was watching a new Netflix documentary last night “The Call to Courage” by Brene Brown (watch it if you get a chance) where she talks about getting into the arena and how this quote from Roosevelt inspired her “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,...

Gallery artist Sarah Ross-Thompson posted this piece recently on her Facebook page - if you're an artist I would highly recommend that you follow Sarah's page she has many useful tips and hints and I would say very much understands both the artist and gallery perspectives in regards to selling.  "I recently received an enquiry, asking my advice about selling artworks via platforms such as e.t.s.y. The enquirer also asked how selling in this way would sit with any gallery representing an artist. Now obviously I can’t answer for a gallery but I CAN share my personal opinion. It is...

It’s absolutely true! You wear a myriad of hats from bookkeeper, marketing guru, cleaner, employer, investor & general dogsbody! Often every waking hour is spent on what needs doing from placing orders, paying artists & suppliers, looking after employees, keeping your retail space fresh & inviting, keeping social media channels up to date, answering emails, thinking of new ideas, sourcing new suppliers, updating the web shop, visiting trade shows, the list goes on! I’m sure all of us who own businesses have days when it feels like it would be simpler to go back to being employed, getting a pay...

The eagle eyed among you will notice that we’ve had a little re-vamp in the gallery recently.  Gone are the dark bookcases and sideboards to be replaced with gorgeous birch ply tables and peg-board displays and a near invisible and flexible hanging system in the main window. Part of the reason we undertook the recent changes was a strong desire to make the products that we sell more accessible – easier for you to see and pick up.  We thought long and hard about the height of the central table – not too high, not too low – with a...

Like most things in life, trial and error is often how you end up working out what works and doesn’t work. I don’t think there is a single blueprint for retail success, if there was, we’d all be doing it!⠀ So what have we learnt not to do here at the gallery since we opened? I’d say first and foremost absolutely do NOT compare yourself with other businesses – it’s a slippery slope that can lead you down a rabbit hole of self-doubt, feeling like crap, thinking that you’re rubbish and everyone else is amazingly successful. The advent of social...