Ahoy shoppers!
When you enter Sailors of Rye, you step down into its small but perfectly formed space; it feels like you are going below deck on a fishing boat.
Martin outside of Sailors of Rye, TN31 7EN
Tell me how you got to Rye?
Martin. I was born in Manchester, and both sides of my parentage are from large working-class Mancunian families. After leaving school, I studied art A-level, and that led me to a fashion diploma. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any funding, so I found work in retail to support myself while learning. I worked at Red or Dead as a visual merchandiser and a shop assistant. In my mid-20s, I was accepted onto a four-year degree at Salford University and again found myself working full-time hours every week as funding wasn’t there for me. In my final year at uni, I moved down to London and went back to Manchester for lectures and tutorials. After I graduated, I got my first head office appointment at Uniqlo as Head of VM. Post-Uniqlo, I went onto BBH to work on Levis and then to a big PR agency called Publicasity, where I was Head of Brand Development.
A few years later, I set up my own small agency called Foal, which gave small and indie businesses a brand care package of PR, marketing and visual merchandising, all under one umbrella. Those brands were food and drink, health and beauty, fashion and lifestyle newbies like Bottle Apostle and Super Superficial. By this stage, my husband and I had had enough of city life, deciding spare weekends would involve checking out commutable places to set up home near the sea. Jason and I married in 2015, and later that year, I suggested moving to Rye; we both quickly got hooked on Right Move and bought our current home a couple of weeks later.
We had been visiting Rye regularly, so we knew the train was fast, and we had always felt it was such a friendly town, full of interesting people and places. Also, my brother is in Eastbourne, so being closer to family was a big draw. We had made a few friends here and had got to know many faces; we had met Marcus & Gareth from McCully & Crane in the pub and kept popping in to see Marcus whenever we came to Rye.
Why did you open a shop?
Martin. We had talked about opening a shop five years ago when we first moved to Rye, but work-wise, the timing was out, and we had our new home to renovate. We were planning on opening somewhere with a strong menswear offering with supporting lifestyle merchandise, but after living here for a couple of years, that did not feel right for the town. We had decided the clothing didn’t necessarily need seasons, and we thought it ought to be unisex. We also had a clearer idea of what we wanted to bring to Rye in terms of stock, rather than forcing something on people that we felt the town was missing. So many businesses make a mistake thinking they can change a place, and in truth, there is not much about Rye that needs changing, subtle tweaks here and there.
In 2020 both of our jobs changed for the better, and our house renovation was kind of there, so it felt like a good time to look at fresh opportunities where we would both be contributing to the town, now that we had no commitments in London. So, with a massive change to our lifestyles we spent more time with the friends we had made here. Instead of being too tired to see mates in the week we were out in Rye more and got to swim and visit the beach most days. This was a major inspiration to what we wanted to sell in our shop and bring to the town.
What came first, the shop’s name or this building?
Martin. The name came first, but I have always worked that way when developing brands and campaigns. We have both been drawn to the sea since childhood, and collectively we have terrific memories of beaches and always feel content on the coast. Anchors, shells and anything from the sea has always been close to us and featured in our homes.
The shop has a contemporary nautical aesthetic without being themed or some quirky novelty store. We have items that are inspired by the sea and by living near the coast. We stock Falconware in limited edition colours because it’s a British design classic that can be used at the beach or in your home. Everything in the shop has more than one purpose; this is how I buy the items for the shop and always will be.
Last September we had another great trip to Cornwall. As always, we were both so impressed with the standard of independent shops and businesses there. On returning home to Rye, I felt so inspired and ready to launch the shop in physical form. The plan then was to open a shop within a shop, but I noticed that 2 Needles Passage was empty and dragged Marcus (McCully & Crane) to a viewing. Marcus had his first shop in the building around the time we first met him. Also, Michael (Hunter Jones) had previously occupied the shop, so we knew good things had started in Needles Passage. By December, we had opened, and the name Sailors of Rye fitted us perfectly.
It’s a cute little shop with so much history; we added the lifebuoy to the shop’s exterior as a bit of nod to the shop being a fishmonger in past times and, of course, because we are Sailors of Rye. It’s always nice to see people taking photographs of the shop; it makes me think we got it right.
How did you curate the content?
Martin. I had my wish list of what I wanted to sell in the shop; I always wanted the shop floor to look full and layered. In my head, the shop had departments, but I didn’t want to do too much in a small space, and I wanted the merchandising to flow and the categories to merge a little. I can get bored quickly and wanted to avoid mass-produced items, so looking at limited editions and one-offs, custom made items, collaborators, and vintage pieces was the direction in which I curated the original stock and the seasonal buys in store right now and coming soon.
When we opened, we had no ceramics or much in the way of decorative items. It wasn’t because I didn’t want this category in the shop; I just wanted to wait until the right stuff came up. Thankfully we now stock Sophie Alda ceramics, and we have a couple of talented 3D print artists that supply us with fantastic custom vases and candlesticks. It also took a few months to find the suitable candles for the shop as we wanted the most sustainable option out there, but they still needed to feel luxury, plus we wanted to thoroughly test and try the fragrances in our own home and live with them for a while. In the end, we found Keyvnor Candles made by the sea
in Cornwall, which is a perfect fit and is now one of our best sellers.
“When I look at an item with the view to stocking it, I ask myself, Do I love it? And if I don’t love it, then I don’t get it.”
I never get something just because I think it will sell or be a crowd-pleaser. I expect how I curate the shop’s content will vary and evolve, but the root of how I do things is embedded. Sailors of Rye is a concept store that will always support and showcase local talent and new sustainable makers, it is real talent that has always excited us both.
3D printed products.
Tell me more about local collaborations?
Martin. That is something that we will always do because it’s so satisfying and rewarding. It’s almost like inventing something new, like our leather pouches that hold your phone, bank card and keys. Collaborating with Als London to create these beautifully made leather pouches was a great experience, especially when so many people love them. Other times it’s more straightforward; you mention an idea to a maker and let them be creative without your interference. Like working with Rye Chocolates to create our first bar. The brief was simple, give us some chocolate we can eat for breakfast after a sunrise sea swim.
We have had amazing collaborations, from cushions to vases to clothing and prints, and so much more coming up. I also want to explore other ways to work with creatives, makers and businesses; this is something you will see more of at Sailors of Rye. Everyone has loved the windows that local artist Evie May Adams free-styled for our Spring and Summer look. More recently, we hosted our first pop-up guests when Sally at Rock Body Soul brought her responsibly sourced crystals to Needles Passage. Sally will be back; she also makes our bath salts with a special jar called Sea Mist, just for the store.
The shop isn’t only about collaborating, though; I never want to stop finding stock resulting from one person’s creativity and vision. They are the WOW moments I am always on the lookout for.
Do you feel connected with other Rye businesses, for example, at the other end of the High Street?
Martin. Yes, I feel a tremendous sense of community with the majority of businesses in Rye, many of my closest friends have successful businesses here, and they have and continue to be so supportive. We also have a strong bond with the shop’s neighbours Cosy dot Company and The Green House and recently held a group shopping event. We plan on doing lots more; it was wonderful to bring our three very different shops together.
Our store doesn’t get the same footfall that the High Street or The Mint get, but right now, my focus is on establishing Sailors of Rye and not where we are located in town. All the independent businesses need to support each other, recommend each other to customers and encourage people to explore the town. I would encourage the public to support us all and make the most of the amazing range of independent businesses that we have in Rye.
As the new shop on the block, how do you think Sailors of Rye fits in?
Martin. Yeah, I think we do, we hope we do? I certainly want us to fit in, and I hope we are a welcome addition. People seem to find it exciting when they step down into the shop; it’s like a bit of an adventure, the kids love it. It is always the kids that drag their parents down, saying, “Let’s go in here”, we are offering something different to other shops in town. Rye has great shops that are so special and unique, and we hope to have the same reputation as these established businesses one day.
In Rye, we like walking past a house with knitted characters in the window and seeing posters telling you their political views, we want all of that, and that shouldn’t change; it gives the town its personality. I hope it never becomes just a weekend town. There isn’t an arty quarter, it is everywhere, and many locals have arts or theatre backgrounds and the older artists that are here, they’re still working, still inspired to work, and their work is still in demand. Rye has got lots of exceptional people that put their heart and soul into this place; they don’t want to be anywhere else, and why would they? Then you have people who just come at weekends and love it too and would love to be in Rye seven days a week; these people contribute massively to the town.
In some seaside towns, you have that nice area or an old town, you walk down the road a little, and you are in the not very nice area. Rye doesn’t have that; everywhere you look, there is something great, it ticks all the boxes, you relax straight away, you’ve got space to explore, it’s an extraordinary place to be.
“You take ownership of the town because you can literally walk around Rye in half an hour, and you get a feel for the place; you can kind of hold Rye in your hand.”
As I leave Sailors of Rye, I bid Martin bon voyage and make my way down Needles Passage, where I catch a scent of freshly cooked fish and chips from Marino’s Fish Bar, who are just around the corner.
Gresty chatted with Martin from ‘Sailors’, 2 Needles Passage, Rye, TN31 7EN.
www.sailorsofrye.com
