Most of us have to spend time in the mighty St Helier, whether we live here, work here or simply come in to shop. This feature introduces you to five familiar faces who all work in the metropolis. These fabulous women are responsible for feeding us, fueling us with coffee, providing us with style advice, making our homes beautiful or helping to keep our skin fresh.
Words and photography Layla Arthur
Clare Clarke – Pebble
Clare began Pebble, on Market Street in 2010, with no retail expertise but with a really clear idea of exactly what she wanted the Pebble experience to be. She had always wanted to open her own shop and decided to combine her existing interior services work with selling homeware, furniture and clothes to create the most aesthetically pleasing shop I have ever walked into.
Alongside her business partner Kerry, the pair love establishing relationships with their customers; “In fact both Kerry and I love it when on the rare occasion we get what appears to be a ‘reluctant one!’ come in to browse and we make it our mission to kill them with kindness so they leave the shop a little happier than when they came in.”
For Clare “Pebble is, and has always been, about the whole experience of shopping. We want people to feel comfortable just browsing at their leisure or we’re there help them to do some serious shopping!”
Walking into Pebble is like walking into a home away from home where you want everything in the shop to come and live you.
Jane Hunt – Feelunique
Jane will be a familiar face to many who frequent the Feel unique store on King Street. Although she now works behind the scenes she began working within the beauty industry 36 years ago with initial aspirations of becoming a makeup artist, that dream quickly turned into the achievement of becoming ‘Charles of the Ritz’ youngest trained consultant.
Jane has been a part of the Feelunique retail community from the very beginning and is now the store manager. Having moved from the shop floor she now works “building strong and mutually beneficial relationships by good communication and openness” with the beauty brands you’ll find in store. Jane’s work behind the scenes is essential to help bring together the beauty brands and beauty consultants expertise to the stores customers. “For us the customer is Queen and we ensure that our team have as much knowledge as possible to enable them to provide the best service.”
Lucy Morris – Nude Food
Lucy opened the doors of Nude Food on New Street just nine months ago and in this short space of time it has become the place in town to eat clean and healthy food which tastes amazing.
This minimal and stylish café brings together two of Lucy’s loves; clean eating and cooking. And it allows her to share these loves with the people of St Helier six days a week. “There is something really satisfying about feeding people good food” Lucy explained. She also loves how there is a real sense of community in St Helier, one that she’s happy to be a part of. Lucy loves “interacting with people from town, from the bin men who see us dancing around the café whilst we’re setting up every morning at 7.00am, to the ladies in bank that I see everyday when collecting our change.”
Like it’s owner Nude Food is friendly and welcoming, Lucy and her team are ready to feed those looking to grab some good healthy food on the go, or if you’ve some more time then pull up a chair and enjoy the lovely surroundings.
Hannah Harvey – Dandy
Hannah became involved in establishing Dandy on Conway Street back in 2014. Hannah’s best friend Jamie Hooker had just returned from Australia and called on her passion for food to help in running and setting up the business.
Dandy has since thrived becoming the go to snug little coffee shop where the barista’s not only wake up their customers for the day ahead with quality coffee but also become like old friends. Hannah and the team love to have a laugh with the regulars as they seem to share their sense of humour. Hannah puts it down to their attention to detail and the personal touch “I think our customers love that nine times out of 10 they don’t need to tell us what they want, we remember them. We remember their names, their drinks and all their little preferences whether it be their food or their drink.” Of course Dandy isn’t just for regulars there’s a place for anyone who loves good coffee and great food.
The Dandy team is made up of Hannah, Dan, Lucy, Miguel and with Jamie now back in Australia keeping a watchful eye from afar.
Nicole Smith – Eclectic
Nicole has created the ultimate family collaboration at Eclectic in Liberty Wharf, with her at the helm and her daughters acting as models, working within the shop and partaking in online promotion.
Before Eclectic, Nicole successfully managed two boutiques and worked in finance before having her five children. She also juggled various part time jobs around her young family, including celebration cakes, painting and selling furniture as well as fitting in an art degree It’s therefore safe to say creativity flows in abundance in Eclectic. Nicole’s proud that “Each item in Eclectic has been handpicked, not ordered online” as Eclectic’s aim is to “provide a ‘look’ that supports our client’s lifestyle.” she believes that “It can be difficult for women, especially as they get older to feel good about themselves – “fashion or should I say style can do this.”
Nicole has built up a strong client base by personally knowing her customers tastes and asking them to model her clothes to show the inclusive nature of Eclectic. Nicole, alongside her family, and friendly team, has established a business that caters to their customers styles and is proud to make “women feel good about themselves!”
