Agapanthus

18

Agapanthus Interiors

Antique lighting specialists Agapanthus Interiors originally appeared in Stockport eight years ago, incongruously occupying the middle of the three shop fronts that formed Van Gogh Studios on Wellington Street. Come 2020 and the owners Tom Feeney and Zoe Rigby have used the first Lockdown to complete the expansion of their operation into both adjoining units, creating, in the process, one of the most striking shop fronts in Stockport.

The pair met while working at Levenshulme Antiques Village and when they decided to open a business together, that was one of the first areas they considered. “We originally thought we should stay in Levenshulme” explains Tom, “I’d been there eight years, the house was there and because I had a strong local customer base, I thought I should stay there. But we were looking for a nice building and we stumbled across this just driving past it. Zoe said ‘that’s a gorgeous building’. Back then, before any regeneration had happened in this area, it was quite a brave step.” Zoe adds, “We needed high ceilings and a good shop front and we loved the architecture of Stockport too. The affordability was also important.” When asked at what point they realised they would need to expand the premises, Tom replies immediately, “Day one. I had gone to school with the landlord’s son, so we had an agreement - a six year lease and we’d buy it off him afterwards. There was nothing in writing, we just shook hands. We opened in 2012 and he kept his word, so we ended up buying numbers 75 and 77 and number 79 we lease off Robinsons.”

Once the pair owned the buildings, Robinsons happily agreed that they could knock through, which they did two years ago. The recent knock-through, from 77 into 75, completes the development.

Tom explains the new layout... “Number 77 was the original unit. This is the main selling space. In the cellar below we have a huge store of glass shades and that cellar leads to the cellar of 75 which is the room where we store all our bobeche pans - they’re the glass drip pans for chandeliers and we have a huge collection of them. The cellar of 79 is the metalwork shop - all the grinding, welding, braising - all the dirty stuff goes on there. The front room upstairs in 77 is another sales space and in 79 it’s the boys’ workshop - Pete and Bob - where everything gets wired.”

In an interesting development, the first floor of 75 is being converted into a self-contained flat, as is the top floor of 75 and 77. “Our good friend Sam at Where The Light Gets in will be selling them as part of a package. He gets lots of international foodies who want somewhere nice to stay.” The recent expansion is a game-changer for the shop itself, although as Agapanthus sell their wares to a global customer base, they don’t necessarily need their Stockport shop front. “Our bricks and mortar are in Stockport” says Zoe, “ but we are completely international. Our pieces go all over the World.” And Tom admits, “It would have been easier if we’d just bought an industrial unit and sold everything online, but we love displaying the pieces and we wanted an old building to do it in. We wanted people to feel ‘this is what my light would look like in a room like this’” The core part of what Agapanthus do is the restoration of lighting, this is their unique selling point. “Most antique dealers who specialise in lighting don’t restore chandeliers because they feel like they’re missing out on a sale.” says Tom, “there really is only a handful of companies in the UK who restore lights. We always have done and it’s a big part of our business. We stock everything you could possibly need to restore a chandelier. So people can go to France, find a little chandelier and we’ll sort it for them. We have two full-time restorers, Pete and Bob and Annabel as well.”

While maintaining this focus on lighting, the newly enlarged space allows them to stock a greater range of items, that appeal to them, as Zoe explains, “It has let us hold more stock. We were getting more known for furniture so we’ve got more furniture in here now. Also I think it makes us more of a destination place.” One of the first things the pair did on completion of the extension was go on a shopping trip for items to fill it. These trips, along with a network of trusted dealers around the continent, are a staple of the business and vital to sourcing their stock. “It’s very much the most enjoyable part of the job” admits Tom, “When you’re in Brittany and they’ll do a brocant (flea market) in the village. You may see a lot of Lego sets and odd shoes but they’ll do a little barbecue with merguez sausages and you’ll have some cider and go to the beach after. Those are the good bits. “The trick is to know every market. You could go to a flea market in Europe and spend all day there but the trick is to visit four or a five in a day so you have to be pretty good at logistics. And we look at everything - then we buy what we love. We might come away with a light but we might also pick up some green stemmed wine glasses.” Because the pair will buy any piece of lighting that appeals to them, regardless of how much work might be needed to make it sellable, prices for chandeliers can vary widely, at the time of our visit we could have spent between £90 and £12,000 on such piece. “Some can turn out quite expensive because of the man hours that have gone into restoring it, Annabelle might spend half a day stripping it, Pete might clean it for half a day and Bob could spend a day wiring it.” The style of lighting on display is impressively varied, with items from the 1880s up to the 1980s. Agapanthus also stock some new pieces, specifically for use in bathrooms and outdoors where an IP (Ingress Protection) rating is required for safety reasons, “It’s very hard to do that with antique lighting.” Tom and Zoe have realised their ambition of merging the three units and creating one of Stockport’s most beautiful shops but if you thought they might be finished, think again. You see, there’s this garden at the back.... (to be continued...)