Wicklewood are a home furnishings business with a unique vision, which has seen their business grow hugely during the pandemic – supported every step of the way by InXpress, their shipping partner.
Best friends since school, Caroline and Rosie founded Wicklewood in 2017, having discovered a gap in the market for ‘transformative’ and individual home furnishings. The duo describes themselves as ‘modern nomads’ and between them they have moved home multiple times, including overseas, over the past decade.
During this time, they became frustrated by the lack of unique, sustainable home furnishings. As Rosie, Marketing Director said, “several years ago, I bought living room cushions from a well-known home store, and I was bemused and a little put out, to later discover that both my mum and sister had the same ones!”.
Their core market is people who are frequent movers too, who see the world as their address. This means they can’t put their stamp on their home through decorating but can bring it to life and express their style through vibrant furnishings and accessories. Wicklewood also appeals to renters and first-time buyers, who consider their products investment pieces which can travel with them and move from room to room and eventually house to house.
However, over the last few years, Rosie says they have also started to attract a more affluent, mature customer base who want to, and can afford to, decorate their whole house in Wicklewood. To meet their needs, Rosie and Caroline have created off the shelf cushion and bedroom ‘sets’ to help people who lack confidence with their own interior design skills or the time to put any thought into it.
Wicklewood’s designs are of the highest quality. Everything is designed by Wicklewood’s Founder and Creative Director, Caroline Downing Nadel, with materials being sourced and produced by their artisan partners around the world including South Africa, Italy, Mexico and Guatemala. Caroline, who also manages operations, works directly with InXpress’ Westminster office who help them to import in the most cost-effective way and to ship the finished goods door-to-door to customers both at home and overseas.
The shipping process can make or break a company’s reputation as customer’s expect their orders to be delivered in perfect condition and on-time. InXpress have over 100 franchisees in the UK and a further 280 worldwide. They partner with the world’s most reputable carrier partners to fulfil the shipping, while they provide personal, local customer service, an innovative online booking platform and great rates due to their bulk buying power.
During the past 12 months, as we have all been in our homes more than ever before, Wicklewood has seen exponential growth. This surge meant they sold out of many products last year during the first lockdown which, being handmade, cannot be called off at short notice. However, with the help of InXpress on the logistics side, they are now fully stocked again.
Enrico Silva, Business Development Manager at InXpress Westminster said “It has been great to see the huge growth of Wicklewood particularly over the past year, and supporting them on the logistics side has been a pleasure for the team at InXpress. We look forward to seeing Caroline and Rosie bring even more of their designs and ideas to life”.
Wicklewood are looking at looking at new channels including a subscription service, and there is no doubt that the future is as bright as any of their products. InXpress will be with them as their journey continues.