Mum and daughter quit job and created 'just what…

Mum and daughter quit job and created 'just what Birkenhead needs'

Every day is different at one shop in Merseyside, run by a mum and her daughter.

Helen Swainbank, 32, and mum Elaine Wildman, originally from Bootle, opened The Vintage Emporium back in 2012 after both had spent years as successful accountants. An opportunity arose after the building which houses their current shop was acquired as part of a deal relating to Helen's dad business, and soon mum and daughter were had both "packed in" their jobs to run a full time antique store.

After ten years in the business, "customers are the main joy" for the pair, who said that every day is different as they travel around the area in search of unique antiques and other wares for their loyal customers, some of whom have been there since the beginning.

Speaking about the first few months of running the shop, based on Duke Street, Birkenhead, Helen told the ECHO: "It was fantastic. I mean at the time there wasn’t anything like that here.

"Everyone coming in was overjoyed and saying it was just what Birkenhead needs. Our first day we opened the door and people started coming in.

"We were like what? We’d been wondering if people would and they did. It was brilliant and we started to get to know people.

Helen and Elaine have been in business for ten years now (Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)

"Customers are the main joy of this job - the people who come in. Some of our regulars have been coming in for 10 years and some of them are friends now.

"We’ve seen kids grow up, we’ve seen then buy houses. We always have a catch up. Some of the families like to come in during a day out and have a catch up and a laugh."

Helen said that even after a decade in the business her work still surprises her. She added: "You don’t know what’s going to happen or who’s going to walk through the door. On a slow day we’ll all be in the workshop preparing.

"We make sure that nothing in our shop is broken or dirty, that it’s all ready to go in our customers' house. A lot of work goes into that side of it.

"But you never really know what will happen. One day another trader might come in or one day a pub landlord will come in looking for items - or you might get a call from somebody saying there’s a massive load of gear here so get in the van.

A wall of mirrors at the Vintage Emporium (Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)

"It’s really exciting, you don’t know what each day’s going to bring.

" The shop is more of a big range really, it’s not just antiques. We try to do antiques, vintage and things all the way through to contemporary painters and industrial furniture.

"There’s no real rhyme or reason to what we buy, we buy because we love it and we think oh that’s gorgeous. We get just as excited as anybody would [buying to sell] as if they’re buying it for their own house.

"From the start both thought we loved this. We had no background in antiques whatsoever, we didn’t even know what a Welsh dresser was. We’ve learned a lot over the years, we’re quite educated in antiques and the rest of it."

The Vintage Emporium, run by Helen and Elaine, can be found at Grosevenor House, on Duke Street in Birkenhead.

You can find the shop online here.

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