The Emporium Strikes One

Vicky gets ready to party… TUES12MAR24

aving first started out from her Greystones home, Vicky Noble has spent the last four years reintroducing families to the ever-lasting joy of wooden toys.

Back in 2020, those families would swing by and check out the swings, rockers, builders and blockers, but as the demand grew, Vicky knew she was going to have to dream bigger.

And that dream came through exactly one year ago, when The Little Emporium popped up in the Tesco shopping centre.

“It was just such a revelation,” says Vicky today. “To have people interacting with the toys, to be able to let the kids just play, it just felt like a great leap forward from just being online.”

Today, The Little Emporium is offering a real world space for lots of other Greystones crafters and grafters who have built up a solid reputation online. From Deirdre Doyle’s The Cool Food School to Clara Cullen’s Oak & Olive Home, from Laura and Sian’s My Happy Space to Monika Siwiec’s Kids Love Cotton and Paula Keating’s Love Livie, becoming a permanent platform for local start-ups is a no-brainer for Vicky.

“The Little Emporium was started by myself and Danielle Murphy, who has the wonderful kids boutique Pom Pom Pirate. And we both found ourselves having so many more people than ever before checking out what we had to offer. There’s a great community online, of course, but there’s something so satisfying about just being out in the real world. I love being able to give other small local businesses the same experience. It’s so much easier to find what you want when you can pick it up and check it out.”

And that handy same-second delivery is something that not even Amazon can manage.

To add to all the happy, there are Saturday pop-ups too at The Little Emporium (“We have different people for a month at a time; they just have to get in touch“), with 3D Precious Memories setting up stall on Thursday, March 14th, revealing the wonders of 3D casting for family mementos.

Plus, there are new workshops for kids, including arts and crafts every Wednesday with Karen Anderson from Keep Them Busy Mom, running from 3pm to 4pm. It’s €12 drop-in or €10 on a term basis, with plans for more classes and camps through the summer.

And if all that wasn’t enough, this Saturday, March 16th, to mark the big birthday, there will be face painting, glitter tattoos and balloons, plus 10% off all wooden toys, kids’ clothes and accessories, room decor and beautiful gifts.

In the meantime, we had a few words with Vicky about her year of living joyfully…

You can find out more about The Little Emporium by emailing here, and follow on Instagram right here and Facebook right here.