Quite frankly we’re not sure we can cope with much more excitement at Brocante. Receiving the fantastic news that our shops have been nominated for the Greats Gift Retailer Awards was enough on its own, but then we were told we had reached the finals in not one, but two categories. Consequently we have been wiggling around Fowey, Charlestown, Mevagissey and St Ives with excitement ever since.

This year Brocante is a finalist for the awards of ‘Best Specialist Multiple Retailer of Gifts’ and also ‘Best Retailer Initiative’. The Greats Awards is now in its 20th year, and over that time has become recognised as the Oscars of the retail gift industry. It’s particularly special as nominations come from peers, which unites and shows recognition for those working hard in the retail industry.

As you can see below, Brocante have attended this award ceremony before, giving them an excuse to get all dressed up and fancy.

David and Kieron looking giddy when they won ‘Best Independent Gift Retailer’ in 2018

The amazing Katy, our visual merchandiser, David, James and the one and only Maggie (James and Kieron’s Mum!) at a previous awards evening in London.

The nomination for the ‘Best Retailer Initiative’ refers to our adaptability in offering home zoom shopping parties, as well as ‘virtual shopping’ Facebook live events which we began during the first lockdown. This idea gave us a way to keep trading whilst we were closed due to lockdown, but also gave our customers another way to socialise virtually and have some fun whilst treating themselves to some retail therapy. We had great feedback from these events, and it is still something we can organise for a group of friends who may live in different areas, or even countries. A good supply of snacks was essential, and made the evenings led by Kieron and David even better. We heard there may have been a drinking game that involved having a shot every time David said ‘fantastic’. Here is David in full flow on one of our Facebook live virtual shopping evenings.

The winners of each category are announced at the awards ceremony in London in May. We will let you know how we get on. If you would like to know a little more about these awards and what they mean, take a look at the Greats Awards website here.

The icing on the cake was finding out that we had another winner in our camp. Maria’s hard work in the Young Farmers panto production of Jack and the Beanstalk resulted in her collecting the prize for Best Actress when judged against all the other Young Farmers groups in Cornwall at performances in St Ives. Her portrayal of a villain was both convincing and terrifying. Perhaps she was in character during the eventful Young Farmers convention in Weston Super Mare ? I shall leave you to google that one !

Awards Season is Upon Us