Spark Yard Newsletter Winter 09

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WINTER 2009

Winter wonderland on Tarrant Street

NEWS

2 COOKING UP A STORM

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FILLING THOSE STOCKINGS

UNDETERRED by the gloom and doom that has been this year, we are ready to fill your homes with festive cheer! So don’t be down in the dumps, deck the halls with beautiful decorations from our handpicked selection. We have lots in store from many different suppliers, most of which are definitely different from the norm. Jazz up your tree with beautiful figures and hangers from the likes of Gisella Graham and Sia. Loop some of our traditional garlands around your banisters or over your mantel piece and jolly up your front door with one of our selection of great wreaths. We have twinkly Christmas lanterns, lights and candles to help make your home glow along with lots of stockings to hang out for Father Christmas.

Candy canes and chocolate tree decorations are also available ready to tempt those nosey present peepers lurking around your tree. So why not come and get lost in our mini winter wonderland and get prepared for the festive fun!

CHRISTMAS IS COMING! Here at Sparks Yard as of the 5th October we will be geared up and ready to help you with all of your Christmas quandaries. The ground floor will be groaning with children’s stocking fillers, even Father Christmas has booked a private shopping evening! We have lots of new jewellery, toiletries, generally useful and mostly lovely things for the ladies in your life and stacks of fun, indulgent and innovative gifts for those hard to buy for men. The Cook and Home areas of the shop are stocked up and ready and to top it all off we have our usual abundance of beautiful and unusual seasonal decorations for the home and tree.

Turn to our news page to read all about what has been going on here in 2009, it has been a very exciting year for us!

We are launching our website www.sparksyard.com this winter but please remember that we are always happy to help you over the phone and that we can send pretty much most things out to you in the post. Just give us a quick call on 01903 885588 and lovely Lou will be able to help you. If possible it is best to call during the week as weekends can be a little bit hectic!

Some of you may notice our bags change this winter, we thought it was time for a bit of a revamp! We will also be

selling Sparks Yard’s own folding reusable shopping bags. We are making a donation to Sparks, the children’s medical research charity every time one is sold. This is an incredible charity and has been our chosen charity this year. They have done so much worthwhile work that it is hard to know where to start to tell you what they have done and what they are working on. Their sole remit is to fund research across the whole spectrum of paediatric medicine. Their goal is for all babies to be born healthy and stay healthy. Please go to their website (www.sparks.org.uk) to find out more about their fantastic work and don’t forget to buy a bag when you come in store, we think they make a great stocking filler!

This newsletter aims to give you a small taster of what we have in store for you this winter, obviously we have tonnes of new lines and we would need this to be the size of the Telegraph to get everything in so make sure you pop in and see us so you can see for yourself what great gifts we have. We hope that you have a fantastic festive period and that you have a wonderful new year. May 2010 be so much more fun than 2009 has been!

Best wishes

Holly & Andy

Special Events & Opening Hours Christmas Preview Evening: Monday 5th October 6pm-9pm Arundel Spirit of Christmas: Saturday 5th December 10am-6pm Arundel By Candlelight: Saturday 12th December 10am – 8pm

General Opening Hours Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm Sundays 11am – 4pm

19th-23rd December we will be open for an extra hour every afternoon

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HOT IDEAS FOR HEAVENLY HOMES

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LADIES LOVE PRESSIES BIG BOYS TOYS SHOP ONLINE

DECK THE HALLS

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Contact Us Sparks Yard, 18 Tarrant Street Arundel, West Sussex BN18 9DJ. Tel: 01903 885588

www.sparksyard.com

To place an order visit our website www.sparksyard.com or call 01903 885588 to order over the phone or ask any questions – we can ship most things!

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and now to

THE NEWS! Awards!

Yippee!

The Heggadon’s are multiplying!

2009 HAS been a lucky year for us here at Sparks Yard. We are very proud to have won two prestigious business awards. At one of the industry’s biggest trade events, The Spring Fair 2009, we were shortlisted and highly commended in the national ‘Independent Home & Gift Store of The Year’ category. We were chuffed to bits to have done so well on a national level! We were then invited to take part in the Observer Business Awards.

The team headed to the Hilton for the event where we were thrilled to be chosen as ‘Retailer of the Year’. The competition was very high with some great local retailers in the running.

This year we are expecting a particularly special delivery for Christmas! Andy and I are due to have our first baby at the beginning of November. Currently the baby is known as ‘The Cheese’ due to my craving for the stuff and its excited

A very shocked Holly & Andy receiving their ‘Great’ Award!

Greg, Tim, Andy, Louisa, Holly & Jane accepting their award.

As you can probably imagine, we were then completely shocked to then be shortlisted for a ‘Retail Great’, the leading awards for the independent retail sector. At a very exciting awards ceremony at The Royal Lancaster Hotel on Hyde Park, we were announced as winners of the award for ‘Independent Gift Retailer of the Year’ – London, South & South East.

Andy and I were so shocked that we were shaking too much to hold the award still! It was a marvellous evening and lovely to be able to share it with both sets of our parents who have been so incredibly supportive to us over the past six and half years. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful team here at Sparks Yard, all of whom are true assets to our business.

The Sparks Yard Canine Team has grown!

We know many of you have grown to look forward to seeing Ted the Wonder Dog feature in our newsletters, well this year Ted got a new pal! Ernie joined the office team in January and keeps us all very busy! His main interests include long walks on Climping Beach, sorting through

Ernies first day at work!

the office bins, chewing Ted’s ears, escaping to the pub and having big cuddles while we really should be working! He is a rather scruffy but gorgeous little Wire Haired Fox Terrier and a true Arundel boy having been born and bred in the town.

Ernie and Ted.

movements every time the word is mentioned! His or hers arrival in the run up to Christmas is not exactly ideal for us what with it being our busiest period of the year in the shop but we are obviously thrilled and extremely excited. So if you see us looking totally sleep deprived over the Christmas period, you will know why!

We have also had lots of exciting press coverage this year as a family. Among other things our lovely home has featured in several magazines including House Beautiful and is due to be included in a new BBC television programme this autumn called Property Detectives. They promised us that we wouldn’t have to be interviewed…..they lied! Andy and I were highly embarrassed to have to appear in front of the camera, I think we will have to watch that one from behind a pillow!!

Sparksyard.com is live!

A few of you may have noticed that our online shop is now open for business. We are really pleased with how it is looking although we are still working hard to add more and more products. As you can imagine, it is a big job with the huge variety of stock that we carry in store. It is always worth remembering that if you can’t find it on our website we are always happy to help over the telephone and can send pretty much most things out in the post.

Please go online and have a look or do some shopping and please keep popping back as it is still a work in progress!

Arundel Festival ‘09 We were very proud to be sponsors of this year’s street theatre along with some other businesses in the town. The feedback from the visitors was that this year’s festivities had a great buzz to them. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the team of organisers who work so tirelessly to put together such a fun festival for us lucky people who live and work in the town and for all of the visitors that it draws to the town. Sparks Yard had a

great festival with record numbers of sales and lots of new customers who promised they would be back.

We were also involved in the Gallery Trail this year which was great fun! Inside the shop we had lots of butterflies, bees and ladybugs that had been made by local children with the help of the wonderful Dena & Dan from Krafty Kids. Dena runs fantastic workshops and activities in the area throughout the year, you can find out more about these on her website www.kraftykids.info .

At home we had the talented sculptor Vincent Grey from Chichester www.vincentgray.co.uk exhibiting some of his collection.

We really loved having his work in our garden, and Ernie was really keen on the particular work shown!

To place an order visit our website www.sparksyard.com or call 01903 885588 to order over the phone or ask any questions – we can ship most things!

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great gifts for CREATIVE COOKS HEAVENLY HOMES Willies wonky chocolate WE are pleased to be stocking Willies World class Cacao, as featured on his very entertaining Channel 4 programme ‘Willies wonky chocolate factory’. His Supreme 100% Cacao blocks are perfect for grating into all sorts of culinary feasts. It adds delicious richness to stews, casseroles and of course desserts. It is also great for making homemade truffles and unbelievable hot chocolate. We have two varieties, Caranero Superior Cacao (with notes of nut & spice) and Rio Caribe Superior Cacao (with notes of zesty citrus) both of which hail from single cocoa estates in Venezuela. The Delectable Cacao is for eating straight out of the box and comes in two delicious varieties, Venezuelan 72 with smooth fruity notes and Peruvian 70 with tropical fruit notes. Each box contains two 40g bars, one for now and one for later!

Loads’a money!

As always the shop is groaning with Christmas confectionary including giant chocolate coins, chocolate gambling chips, nougat, biscuits, gingerbreads and Turkish Delight to name a few. There is something for everyone’s Christmas stocking so make sure you come and have a really good rummage so that you don’t have to disappoint someone special with a lump of coal and a Satsuma!

Get in the Culinary picture delights We carry a good selection of picture frames from a range of good quality trusted suppliers. They range from tiny classic frames to huge wall frames that can hold up to 28 photographs.

These beautiful marble cheese boards make great presents for hard to buy for men. These weighty slabs of marble are printed with favourite wine labels making them the perfect gift for any bon viver! We have a range of designs and sizes in store.

Scandi-chic is back After a few years of absence Sagaform is back in store. There are some fantastic lines such as mulled wine warming pots, barware and kitchen goodies. We have always loved the work of Sagaforms designers and their slightly quirky retro styling.

Alessi New Lines

Love it or Guard hate it?!

Dogs!

HOT on the success and popularity of the Marmite ceramics we had in store last Christmas, we now have more Marmite products to tempt you!

Alongside the mugs, egg cups, plates and espresso cups we now have aprons, tea towels, giant money jars and even a special box to put your Marmite sandwich in!

We have stocked up on Culinary Concepts ranges of barware, cheese accessories and generally lovely things for the home. Lots of these items make great gifts for couples as well as entertaining kings & queens!

Written in stone

Do you need a bit of protection…..from slamming doors?!

Then these little chaps could be the answer. Weighing in at nearly 2kg they are weighty enough for the job in hand. They are both british designed and made using the highest quality fabrics and leathers and are quintessentially quirky. Available in lots of different fabric including union jacks, hessian, waxed jacket, candy striped (pictured) and leather.

Let’s get this party started!

AS always we have some great party accessories in store but as it is the festive season the collection has grown enormously!! We have everything that you need to get your party plans off to a bang and jolly up your Christmas table. From lanterns, masks, poppers, pea shooters and trivia to paper chains, sparklers, ice fountains and games. We have beautiful crackers from Penny Kennedy in Emma Bridgewater, Nina Campbell and V&A designs all filled with gifts that you would actually want!

Those creative geniuses’ at Alessi have come up with some beautiful new lines for winter 2009. This includes a new range of Michel Graves products such as the whistling bird kettle now being available in black. There are also stunning new cheese knives, a new style sleek electric kettle, witty ‘Lula’ dog bowls (which Ernie and Ted have picked as their top buy for this Christmas!) and even quirky ‘Apostrophe’ orange peelers that make brilliant stocking fillers for dedicated Alessi followers, or orange lovers at only £13 each!

Feeding the 5000?

In our well stocked cook store we aim to have all of your Christmas culinary essentials such as roasting pans, turkey basters, cookie cutters, pudding basins and mince pie trays. So don’t get caught short and be prepared for the arrival of the masses this year!

Also don’t forget that kitchen gadgets make great stocking fillers for keen cooks!

www.sparksyard.com To place an order visit our website www.sparksyard.com or call 01903 885588 to order over the phone or ask any questions – we can ship most things!

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presents?

THEY’RE IN THE BAG...

LADIES LOVE LOVELY THINGS!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Jewels, jewels, jewels!

Sparks Yard is stocking filler heaven!

Well maybe not the really expensive ones that require us to have bodyguards but we have a great selection of sparkle, fun and indulgence! As always we have the lovely Lovelinks charm bracelets which make a fantastic present that you can keep adding to at Christmases and birthdays to come. We have a selection of bracelets, necklaces, Murrano glass charms and silver charms to choose from. We also have a

lovely new range of silver and glass jewellery from our fantastic Venetian Glass Supplier, Antica Murrina. This is more modern in style and beautifully delicate, very sophisticated stuff!

Father Christmas, elves, mums & dads, grannies & granddads get yourselves down to Sparks Yard! We have a great selection of toys and stocking fillers to suit every budget. There are far too many for us to tell you about but you can be sure that the ground floor will be bursting at the seams with goodies to fill those sacks.

Set off your winter woollies with bold and funky acrylic jewellery and hair accessories. And for the party season top off that perfect little black dress with long strands of ‘pearls’ and great fun sparkly cocktail rings and earrings, so Audrey dahhling!

Put Pen to Paper Run us a nice For all of those domestic goddesses and office angels out there we have a great range of stationary from Emma Bridgewater and some new designs from greetings card favourite, Caroline Gardener.

These make great accessories for home or the office and include great ideas like weekly to do pads and home journals for all those important bits of information that you can never normally find!

We also have a big range of Moleskine and Paperblanks diaries, lovely calendars and gorgeous notebooks, notelets and simple stationary. There really is something for everyone and they all make for lovely gifts and stocking fillers.

But baby its outside Lovely hats, scarves, gloves and wrist warmers make great gifts for the girls, stock up on sets for friends and family and why not treat yourself to a new set for this winter?

We also have a great range of men’s hats and scarves so be sure to remember the boys this winter, we don’t want lots of cases of ‘man flu’!

hot bath Alongside the fantastic Dr Haushuka brand of skincare, we have some other delectable toiletries from Bath House and Compagnie de Provence. The Bath House Serenity range has already proven to be very popular with its delicate scents of white tea and rose, over subtle hints of crushed thyme and musk. The range includes hand wrapped soaps, bath salts and foam, fragranced rose buds and perfume. The French, Extra Pur Marseille soaps from Compagnie de Provence, are all made by traditional standards in a cauldron with natural glycerin, the soaps contain neither colouring agents, animal fats, nor surface-active agents. Available in four amazing fragrances Rose, Orange Blossom, Fresh Verbena and Figs of Provence, these hand soaps, creams, Foam baths and body lotions are stocked in both travel and full sizes.

This publication is printed on 100% recycled paper.

‘It’s too beautiful to open!’

How many times have you heard that? If the answer is not very many then you definitely need to come and see us! We have lots and lots of gorgeous gift wrap, tissue, boxes, ribbons and tags for you to choose from.

Get creative and give your presents with style!

Sent with love We have brilliant Christmas cards in store, ranging from packs of charity cards to individually handmade cards for your nearest and dearest. With designs from Woodmansterne, Five Dollar Shake and Caroline Gardner there is something for everyone on your list.

Toys for Big Boys Every man wants to be Bond Although men’s fascination with gadgets is by and large still a mystery to womankind we all know how happy it makes them to find a couple in their Christmas stocking! We always try to get a good selection of gadgets and games for the boys and this year we have some great ones such as the Waboba Ball a ball that literally bounces on water, great for skimming and generally mucking about with. Another gem is the AstroStar which features a rotating base with compass-point alignments that make it possible to project a map of the clear night’s sky all around you. Fantastic for astrology fans or just for people with their head in the clouds! Other handy gadgets include emergency mobile phone or MP3 player chargers that can give your gizmo a power boost with the use of a single AA battery, very handy while out and about on missions! These are just a few examples of the lines that can be found in our men’s stocking filler area, come and have a good look for yourselves and see what you can find!

For the well groomed gentleman We have some accessories that every dapper chap needs! Simon Carter has come up trumps yet again with a very smart and classic range of cufflinks, collar stiffeners, silk handkerchiefs and beautiful watches. They are so smart that quite frankly the girls are jealous that they are for the boys!

And of course, no gentleman worth his salt would be seen un-groomed, step in Geo.F.Trumper of Mayfair. We have been stocking this range since we first opened and there is a reason why we still have it in store today, it is the best! Their shaving creams, aftershaves, soaps, badger brushes and razors are not only classically styled and stylish but developed by a long running team of barbers that have worked in the industry for centuries making and refining their products. Their razors and brushes make fantastic special presents while their toiletries are also covetable gifts. We have also stocked up on the very popular and reasonably priced Spanish Fig & Nutmeg men’s toiletry range which includes lovely shaving and showering essentials.

To place an order visit our website www.sparksyard.com or call 01903 885588 to order over the phone or ask any questions – we can ship most things!