Let’s Talk About… Buying with Yarnton Home and Garden gift/home buyer Bryony Taylor-Edwards

Let’s talk about… gift buying

Bryony Taylor-Edwards looks forward to sharing some of the ups and downs of life as a gift buyer with Gifts Today readers

I’m Bryony, the gift, home, and food buyer at Yarnton Home and Garden. A stunning home and garden concept store located north of Oxford and bordering the pretty Cotswolds, Yarnton Home and Garden sits on a 13-acre site, just off the A44. It’s a large store, hosting an indoor and outdoor plants area, a wonderful Magic Garden play barn, a café - and, of course, a home and gift department.

When I was approached to write this column, I was quite taken aback. I’m relatively new to gift buying and I had not even considered writing about it! Then I stopped to think and realised that shopping and writing are two of my favourite things. So, I’m delighted to join Gifts Today as a columnist.

My introduction to buying happened by chance. I was hired four years ago to help rebrand Yarnton Home and Garden and put in place a marketing strategy. It was clear to me that something was missing - an essential ‘lifestyle’ element. In other words, there was very little by way of a gift offer, and this needed addressing.

I hurried off to the powersthat-be and made the case as to why I thought a gift offer was so important. My message centred on how much gifts bring to a retail space. The category attracts a wide range of customers, brings interest and enjoyment, and we can tell our story as a business via the gifts we choose to buy and sell.

And, of course, gifts make brilliant commercial sense.

“Everyone I have met in the industry has been positive, inspiring, and welcoming”

On a mission

Long story short, they said go for it! Little did I know at this point that my suggested idea of three tables of gifts at till points would grow into a whole new department and an online shop, all post-pandemic. My mission was now one of scale.

Teamwork makes the dream work and we got stuck in. The result, which is still very much a work in progress, is a stunning home and gift department. We offer brands such as Present Time and Bloomingville who take the role of brand partners.

Alongside them, we now have a comprehensive gift offer across many categories including home and interiors, bath & body, botanical gifts, books, accessories, luxury food, and toys. And gifts have done exactly what I hoped: attracted new people, enhanced the customer experience, and increased the customer time in-store. It has also driven up our average basket value.

Do I love my job as a gift buyer? Yes, 100%. Why? Because of the incredible people I have met on this journey, from big suppliers to small, from local to national. Everyone I have met in the industry has been positive, inspiring, and welcoming. I look forward to sharing with you some of the ups and downs of life as a gift buyer.