Retail Interview Medici Gallery
Charlie Wheatley (left) and Tim Reynolds
‘The oldest card
shop in town’
The Medici Gallery shop has been in the same spot in London’s Kensington for more than 90 years. Famed for its fabulous window displays, the store recently won a 10-year battle against demolition and lives to fight another day, as Naomi MacKay finds out…
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or many years, the Medici Gallery shop in South Kensington was under threat. Developers wanted to develop the nearby station, to build flats and shops. Their plan had been to demolish the building, home to the Medici Gallery since the 1930s, while keeping the facade. But just before Christmas last year, manager/curator Tim Reynolds and assistant manager Charlie Wheatley got the news they had been hoping for. The local council had turned down and dismissed the planning application. The shop, which sits in a Conservation Area, was saved. “It was mostly thanks to the residents around us and all of our loyal customers,’’ says Charlie. “The council received around 3,000 objections; it was the wrong building for the area.’’ “So we live to fight another day,’’ adds Tim. The shop - dubbed as ‘possibly the oldest
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card shop in London’ was built in 1930, and the Medici Gallery is only its second occupant. Positioned just 50 yards from South Kensington Tube station, visitors have to go past the shop to get to nearby museums. Charlie says: “It’s become a place to meet, to socialise and eat out - especially in the summer. Exhibition Road is now pedestrianised and all the tables are outside. Since this was done about 11 years ago the area has really improved. It’s very vibrant and has become more of a destination.’’ Customers come from all walks of life there are tourists, lots of families - and local residents who tend to be a mix of Europeans and Americans. “We regularly see elderly customers who’ve known the shop since their childhood. Many others remember it from days at school or college,’’ Charlie points out.
“We regularly see elderly customers who’ve known the shop since their childhood’’
The Medici Gallery company was founded in 1908 as a publisher of art prints and books. “We did have a fine art gallery in Mayfair, which we don’t have any longer. The company is still owned by the same family - the Gurneys from Norfolk. [The family founded Gurney’s Bank in 1770, which merged into Barclays Bank in 1896.] Their aim at the time was promoting fine art for the masses,’’ explains Tim. “They were one of the first - a pioneering printing company,’’ adds Charlie. “ If you wanted fine art you would have to buy a painting, so this was the company that made fine art affordable.’’ “In fact we still get people calling up asking if their Medici print is worth anything, but I’m afraid they’re not. They were all mass produced,’’ Tim explains. “People find prints in garages and houses and because they are so old, they are normally
