Chosen By Jessica – Opening Day – 3rd July 2019
‘Chosen by Jessica’ was officially opened in Colne on Wednesday 3rd July 2019. They’re located in the old Co-Op building (opposite XLCR Vehicle Management) and right next door to Planit Opticians. It is very much a family based business, but is not a new business – it has been operating for at least 4 years now. They already have a strong online presence (outlets at Amazon & eBay, a website & the usual social media) and have now just stepped into retail.
They sell home-ware, gifts, accessories, ladies clothes, handbags, purses, cards etc.
The shop looks great and it’s no surprise that everyone is super friendly (after all, it’s Colne). We turned up completely unannounced – so there was no time for them to prepare or stage anything – but they were more than happy to accommodate all our requests.
Initially, the size of the shop surprised us … it was much larger than we expected! There’s certainly plenty in there to interest everyone … from house wares, ornaments, handbags, clothes, mirrors, cards, soaps, bath fizzes, gardening ornaments … *lots*. And then there’s the huge clock … Have a look at the pictures and you’ll get the general idea. Better idea, though, is to pop down and have a look for yourself.
Chosen by Jessica: A closer look
Lots of interesting items … here are some that caught our eye …
Chosen by Jessica: For the garden?
The whole place is very welcoming. Great to see that they’ve made good use of wooden pallets and boxes. The sales counter & coffee counters are made from pallets, whole pallets are used for some product displays and the garden items display is made from wooden boxes. They’ve created a great effect too – warm & cosy.
Chosen by Jessica: The Coffee Shop
There is a rather nice coffee shop area at the rear of the shop. It wasn’t operational at the time of our visit, but it’s almost ready! They’re just waiting for a few pieces of key equipment to arrive before the coffee shop area is opened to the public. Still, they managed to rustle up a coffee for us and ask for some feedback. Certainly, we can do that …!
They’ll be selling ground coffee, tea (plus some speciality teas), cakes, buns, artisan breads (for sandwiches and toast), various salads. There will be vegetarian and vegan options, plus many types of milk (inc. skinnies, soya, etc.).
This all sounds interesting and no doubt we’ll be back to try them out in the future …
Family Business & the Community Connection
Husband & wife team Adam & Jessica Jones own the business, along with their business partner Tony Keogh (family). This is very much a family business – we’re told that Deborah Keogh (Tony’s wife) has been working tirelessly in the background and has been a key player!
A bit of background of how all this came about … Jessica & Adam started seeing each other whilst they were studying at Nelson & Colne College and they were married last year. They’ve been running ‘Chosen By Jessica’ for at least 4 years now with an online presence on Amazon, eBay etc. The basic idea was that Jessica chose the products and Adam would help sell them. Inevitably, Adam ended up full time on this project! When Adam decided to go cycling around Europe, Tony joined the business as a partner.
As the business expanded further, they roped in more family to help out and decided that they needed some space to expand into. Anyone that’s started their own business will be well aware of the chaos an expanding business causes at home and how it literally soaks up everyone vaguely close to you! However you cut it, it’s a lot of hard work.
They really needed some storage space, but they spotted a retail premises on Albert Road, Colne. It seemed to be ideal for their purposes whilst also allowing a stab at bricks & mortar retailing. This premises was currently unoccupied, but was formerly used as furniture storage (“A White Room”). The family is local, so they took the plunge and with sheer hard work, they’ve transformed it from a ‘white room’ into the current retail premises.
Tony asked us to say,
A huge thanks to all the family and friends, for all the long hours of help that they have put in.
Browse their products online
Browse their store on Amazon: Chosen By Jessica
Did you know?
That Jessica has been one of our Colne & District Nursing team for the last 2.5 years or so? And a nurse for over 4 years? Here you can see her participating in the 30 mile walk from Preston to Colne back as part of the Walk 2 D’Feet MND. Back in 2017, they raised over £9,600 for Motor Neurone Disease charities.
Did you know that Tony used to work at Thornton Hall Farm and has been their ‘Santa’ for the last 5 years?!
Colne Shop: Opening Times (weekend of 6th/7th July 2019)
Sat: 9 am – 5.30 pm and Sun: 10 am – 4 pm.
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