The Best Gift Shop in Burnley

Four Months of Wild Venus: Reflections from Burnley

It’s hard to believe that Wild Venus opened its doors on 26th April and already four months have flown by. Nestled in the heart of Burnley, this little gift shop has quickly felt like a home from home, with its cosy interior filled with quirky gifts and handmade treasures.

Not only is it a joy coming to work at Wild Venus in Burnley every day, but It feels like a real community is blossoming, with regular shoppers coming back each week for their soaps, bath bombs, birthday cards and even just to say hi!

One of the best things about having a shop in Burnley is most definitely the people. From the very first day, I’ve been welcomed with warmth and kindness; not just by customers, but by the neighbouring shopkeepers too! There’s a friendliness on the high street that makes every day brighter, whether it’s sharing a morning hello, trading tips or lending a hand when I need someone a bit taller than me to catch that spider!

Visit Wild Venus in Burnley - Check our opening times and where to find us here. 

Celebrating the small wins

The first months have been busy, hectic even! They've been full of creativity and dotted with little victories. Some highlights include:

Supporting Women - Stocking products from over 30 women-owned businesses! There's a wonderful mix of talent and creativity filling our shelves which includes a huge variety of handmade produce from jewellery and jesmonite trinket boxes to fresh produce, art prints, colouring books, craft kits, stickers, bookmarks and more.

Press and features – Wild Venus has already been written about in two newspaper articles and featured on the Discover Burnley social media channels. With one more article on the way!

Growth and awareness - Growing steadily every month! Footfall has increased as more people discover us, which makes me so excited for what’s ahead.

A Growing Team - Welcoming Ash to the team! Ash is our very first staff member in the shop. Ash looks after the Wild Venus Burnley gift shop on the odd Saturday if I’m away or working on a market stall somewhere. You might also spot her representing Wild Venus down at the Burnley Artisan Market which happens on the first Saturday of each month. When she’s not busy chatting away with customers, she’s busy behind the worktop, crafting our potent aromatherapy bath bombs.

Alongside the Wild Venus scents and skincare you can find an impressive array of small businesses - all run by incredible women! You can check who's in store on this list  here. 

 

The Joy (and Challenge!) of Curating

Curating Wild Venus has been both my biggest challenge and my absolute favourite part of the journey so far. Every display, every scent, every little corner of the shop has been chosen with care. Learning from how all the visitors come into the shop and move around the space means that I'm always tweaking, finding the right display for the right place, making sure there's room to move, having lots of interesting products on the shelves without the place feeling crowded. 

It’s also been a dream exploring different themes in these first months- from the cheerful Picnic Spread, to the buzzing world of Garden Wildlife, and most recently, a refreshing Sea-inspired feature which was inspired by a trip to Whitby and the Captain Cook museum. Each theme has let me experiment with colour, texture and atmosphere, keeping the shop alive and ever-changing. 

Looking ahead to Autumn

Now, as summer begins to fade, I’m preparing Wild Venus for the best season of all. Autumn will bring pumpkins, mushrooms and vintage treasures like tins and old books - all with that warm, nostalgic glow that makes this time of year so special and inviting.

I’m especially excited to share a brand-new wax melt collection launching this autumn, inspired by old bookshops, reading nooks and the dark mahogany of a vintage apothecary. Imagine curling up on a rainy afternoon, flicking through the pages of a second hand book, and letting scent take you on an adventure. It always feels like the perfect theme to hunker down and embrace the long evenings to me.

To see our current wax melts click here. 

Thank you Burnley!

All in all, these first few months have been full of learning, creativity, and plenty of coffee breaks with lovely neighbours - especially James, Lee and Max at the Ministry of Vapes and the guys running the Winter Lotus - Lucas and Kurtis who send plenty of their customers my way and lastly my brilliant window cleaner, Jeff who comes in each week for a brew and a catch up after making sure the windows are sparkling clean.

For all of the customers coming in the shop - they tell me the same things…. “oh it smells lovely in here - you can smell the place down the street” , “what a lovely little shop” and “ahh I’m so glad you’re here, it’s about time Burnley had a place like this”.

A huge thank you to all the people of Burnley and everyone who's travelled from further afield. Thank you to everyone who has stepped inside, supported and shared the journey of Wild Venus with their friends, family and on social media! Here’s to the next season and all the cosy magic to come.

If you haven’t yet visited the cutest little gift shop, then I’d love to see you at Wild Venus!  For our opening times and where to find us here.