Our Story
Hobby to High Street
What started as a simple love of knitting and crochet quickly grew into something much bigger and more fulfilling than I ever imagined.
Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to get to know me, and Pearl the sheep! I’m the proud owner of our small family business The Wool Cellar.
Following my love of all things crochet, and being surrounded by beautiful wool, I decided to take the plunge and start the small steps to being an independent retailer.
While I may not have the resources or vast ranges of the bigger retailers, I’m proud to offer a carefully chosen selection of the very best brands. Every penny goes back into growing the business, expanding the range, and improving what I can bring to our community. I only stock brands and products that align with our Rootlings, so you can trust that anything you find here reflects the values we share — and that I can genuinely help with any questions along the way.
Pearl the sheep came to life as part of the design. I hope she brings a little smile to you. She’s as close to owning a real sheep as I can get!
So...what happened?
You’ve got enough wool to open a wool shop” my husband joked one day….And, well… that’s exactly how it all started. Just that tiny seed of an idea was all it took. Actually there weren’t many places to buy lovely squishy yarn locally. The pen and paper came out (I still love pen and paper!) and started to draw the idea that was nagging at me.
I started with an online shop, locals collecting from me, or parcels would be posted out. I was loving it! But could I actually have a proper wool shop?
At that time, I was in a very different corporate world – cyber security, after spending most of my career as a Business Analyst. I loved my job, but sometimes I needed to give myself a break, it could get pretty stressful. Crochet and knitting was my down time, it allowed my brain some escape. I know so many of my customers can relate to that feeling!
A friend mentioned Hatherell’s Yard in Chipping Sodbury. A lovely little Saturday market. This was a brilliant place to start, I wasn’t ready to give up my career, and the market stall was perfect, it just to fund my hobby – a hobby-job if you like!
From day one, I met the most lovely people. They’d stop by, say how wonderful it was to see wool in the High Street again, tell stories of Mrs Maggs and her old wool shop, then later The Ball of Wool. I remember that shop well.
My youngest lad Owen was my side-kick crew member and came up with me most Saturdays to help, he still pops up in the shop to help now and again. I was so nervous on my first day! Looking back there was no need to be, everyone was so friendly. I loved chatting with people, helping them choose projects, and feeling part of the town. I loved my new Saturday hobby. Yes, it was hard work, setting up the stall, breaking it down, surviving the cold, and making sure the rain didn’t spoil anything – but I absolutely loved it!
One of the small shops in Hatherell’s Yard became available – it was a “now or never” moment. Those shops didn’t come up very often. It would be warmer and dryer! But a permanent fixture – I’d have to juggle both my full-time job with this – luckily my employer was very flexible with my working hours to give my little dream a chance.
I got serious – business plans, finance plans, marketing analysis, the Business Analyst in me was in full swing. Could a wool shop really work – how amazing would that be!? The more I planned, the more exciting it became. My husband was, and still is, my biggest supporter, encouraging me every step of the way (after all – it was his idea wasn’t it!).
Here I was on the day I collected the keys, and after I’d stuffed it full – it was amazing!
Unfortunately, 18 months later redundancy was on the cards from the corporate world. I really didn’t know what to do, it was quite a scary time. At the same time a small high street shop came available. I decided to pause my corporate career to fully focus on this adventure and see if I could really make it work as a new career. My first proper high street shop was born.
After a lot of painting and decorating I was finally ready to re-open.
I love this photo, it was taken at the Victorian Evening with the stilt walkers conveniently showing it off – thank you!
Being out on the High Street brought so much more visibility—more customers, more conversations, more community. But as lovely as it was, something was still missing…I needed a craft space.
Somewhere for people to come and browse, to take their time deciding on their new project, choosing their yarns and patterns. Maybe even somewhere to come and sit and knit together.
Fortunately for me, luck was on my side…
In September 2024 – the perfect shop became available. It had everything I had hoped for, and more!
Space for workshops, space for wheelchairs and prams, space for ideas to grow. I walked in and knew instantly: this was going to be my happy space!
And here I am now, in the shop I’d only had previously on paper. A place full of colour, creativity, and community. I couldn’t have done it without the incredible support of my husband and family and my friends on the High Street.
Most of all though, I’m so thankful to every customer who has supported me along the way—customers who’ve bought their project from me, or just cheered me on, both in the shop, and online, this shop is for you as much as it is for me, and I’m so proud of what we’ve built together – thank you!
Jo x
