About The Alphabet Gift Shop and Coffee Bar
The Alphabet Gift Shop and Coffee Bar is a coffee shop and gift shop based at 9-10 Union Street in Burton upon Trent. Specialising in design led gifts and personalisation, they have an on-site studio for the personalisation side of the business. This allows them to react quickly to customer needs and they are able to beat the internet by being able to supply personalised gifts on the same day!
The business started in Mickleover in 2008 after the owner, Sue Dorling’s, home-business expanded. She was dealing mainly in wholesale at the time but as demand grew, it was the right time to branch out into retail.
After that was a success, she opened a second branch in Burton in 2013 and they are now due to celebrate their ten year anniversary on the 13th December!
It came about after wanting to open a store in the town where Sue grew up, as she was a Tutbury girl. When the premises on Union street became available, it seemed like the perfect fit!
As it used to trade as a pub beforehand, it required a large refurbishment and opened as a gift shop with a small coffee shop at the rear. In 2016, after a fire in the pizza shop next door, they took the opportunity to expand into that space and knocked through to expand the gift shop.
In 2021, we then knocked through to the space next door to extend the gift shop again, and featured local suppliers as part of a Makers Market. These expansions also allowed for the coffee shop area to increase in size considerably.
In June this year, they made the decision to open the coffee shop as a Wine Bar in the evenings on a Friday and Saturday night! The premises stays open until 10pm and customers can sample speciality wines that you can't buy in a supermarket.
Sue said: "We use a local artisan wine merchant who specialises in buying directly from vineyards. We also serve a cocktail menu which includes a monthly special!"
"Jewellery is one of our biggest sellers in the gift shop. Katie Loxton and Joma are featured brands that sell very well. We also want to shout about ‘She Is’, a local jewellery designer and manufacturer, as it's important to support local suppliers."
"We also feature Clementine Jewellery who is a supplier from Winshill. Local suppliers do very well in the shop, one example of this is that we stock candles from Katie Astle, who is running one of our candle making workshops in the run up to Christmas. Customers get to take home a trio of festive candles as well as enjoying mulled wine and mince pies on the night."
Other workshops include wreath making and macramé and customers can experience live music on the evening of the 22nd December.
Customers can also sample the delights of Festive afternoon tea – which is running from now until Christmas. This includes a selection of festive finger sandwiches, in-house baked scones and homemade cakes including mince pies, which is served with tea or coffee of your choice. For those that fancy a tipple, you can also upgrade to include mulled wine!
When Sue was asked about why people should be encouraged to shop locally, she said: "It is all about the service. Our staff know all of the products that we sell intimately, they have been involved with choosing them and displaying them and they are all things that we love."
"When we buy from the big brands, we curate a selection of gifts that would really appeal to our customers as a carefully curated range. By shopping with us, you are not only supporting us, you are supporting other small businesses too."
"We have time to spend with people and can offer a very personalised service. We can engage with the customer to really understand what they want and offer our expertise to help."
"We create a personal shopping feel every time you walk through our door. With the personalisation side of the business – you can come in and choose your item, have a coffee or some lunch and then it will be waiting for you shortly after."
Being situated on the edge of the car park outside Coopers Square Shopping Centre, there is plenty of parking available. East Staffordshire Borough Council is also offering free parking on the four Saturdays in the run-up to Christmas.
In order to support the Small Business Saturday campaign, any customer that shops with them on Saturday 2nd December, for every £10 spent, they will get a ticket in the draw for a chance to win a Katie Loxton bundle of goodies, including a weekend holdall worth £160!!
Also make sure to keep an eye out on social media in the near-future for further details about their 10th birthday celebrations!
Contact Details
Telephone Number: 01283 749933
Website: www.thealphabetgiftshop.co.uk/
Email: burton@thealphabetgiftshop.co.uk
Social Media: Instagram @thealphabetgiftshop @alphabetcoffeeandwinebar
Facebook – The Alphabet Gift Shop