A trip down memory lane for the Elderflower Lane founder.

A trip down memory lane for the Elderflower Lane founder.

, by Philip Morley, 4 min reading time

Elderflower Lane is celebrating fifteen years trading, which is pretty reassuring when you think of all the furniture retailers that have been and gone in that time.

Founder, Sarah Frame, has been looking back at how the business has developed, often in challenging circumstances.

“I never set out for us to be the next Furniture Village. I wanted to create a thriving, independent family business, selling furniture that I would like to see in my own home, just outside Cambridge.

The name Elderflower Lane was intended to conjure up a mental picture of an idyllic English village. You know, the kind where the vicar rides to evensong on his black bicycle. 

And this was quite deliberate. I wanted our furniture to feel homely, comforting and perhaps even a little romantic. In some ways the exact opposite of the flat-packed minimalism that you get from stores like IKEA, although I have bought plenty from IKEA, don't get me wrong.

Over time, though, I think the concept of homely, comforting and romantic began to evolve. Our family home, like all family homes, needed furniture that could take a bit of tough love. So, I began looking for furniture makers who crafted things that were a little industrial, retro and sturdy.

This is where ‘hardworking furniture’ came from. I think you can have storage that looks great that isn’t flimsy or precious.”

Elderflower Lane doesn’t have a physical shop - in spite of hundreds of requests to open one. So, why not?

“I think it becomes a totally different kind of business,” says Sarah.

“You suddenly have more staff, energy costs, people asking if you have a car park, and so on. And you begin to concentrate less on furniture. Which can’t be a good thing. An online store is a much more efficient way of offering customers good value. Provided, that is, that you have a good back office, storage and delivery.

Some of our furniture is quite large and needs careful storage because it’s made from wood or rattan or even glass. So we have a temperature controlled little barn where we keep it all.

We even offer to hold purchased furniture in our barn if someone is moving house, for example, and can’t take delivery immediately.

And delivery is so important to us. I have spent the last five years improving this aspect of our service. We actually get almost as many reviews for our delivery as we do our furniture.

We get fan mail for our main delivery driver, Tom.”

Of course, those years included our brush with Covid. Was Elderflower Lane affected by the epidemic?

Sarah raises her eyes as if remembering a traumatic time.

“I think it scared us to death initially. Of course, it was horrific from a health perspective but, apart from that, so many bricks and mortar businesses went to the wall because they had empty shops. At least we didn’t have that problem.

But, in a funny kind of way, I think being at home all the time and working in the spare room made people take more interest in their homes. And I think many of our customers did start making changes to their storage as part of freshening up their domestic prison!”

So, what does the future hold? What does Sarah wish for Elderflower Lane? And are there any plans we should know about?

“We’ve just launched our new website. The old one served us well but we retired in during the summer. So I think our customers will start having a much better experience.

We’re also adding value with a new blog, which I guess is where people are reading this. We’re not just communicating to sell furniture. We’re opening up the conversation about home design in what I hope is a very entertaining and engaging way.

As for the furniture itself, we’re beginning to curate an even more selective range that’s certainly like nothing you see on the high street. Some of our carved wood range, for example, is simply stunning and the workmanship is jaw-dropping.

And I think perhaps the biggest thing coming up very soon is a big extension in the parts of the country we can deliver to. We won’t be doing the Outer Hebrides just yet but we have finally found practical ways to hand deliver furniture, without resorting to the big, box-shifting couriers. The same personal service, just in more places.”

 

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