Look Good

Bellwoods Lifestyle Store are celebrating their first birthday with a gorgeous summer collection

As our friendly neighbourhood lifestyle store celebrates one year as a bricks-and-mortar shop, we look back at just what Bellwoods Whitley Bay have achieved in 12 months – and look ahead to those summertime vibes in their new collection.

Written by High Life North

Published 08.07.2022

advertisement feature

We’ve been a fan of Bellwoods since they first opened their online store during lockdown.

Their passion for supporting independent designers and their respect for the creativity of the unique over the mass-produced had us at hello, while their stylistic leaning towards everything simple, functional and effortlessly stylish fuelled all our Sanctuary and Japandi ambitions for our own homes.

Days turned into weeks and, as her online business boomed, owner Nathalie found demand was high for a bricks-and-mortar premises. In July 2021, Bellwoods opened their first shop on Whitley Bay’s famous Park View and, finally, we found ourselves a shopping destination in the North East which realised every one of our décor dreams.

Not that it’s all about us. Having their own storefront gave Bellwoods the opportunity to realise a couple of their own dreams for the future of the business, too – including the regular Meet the Maker pop-ups they host with local designers, where customers can connect with the creatives behind the products they find in store and the designers can showcase their most recent recreations, creating a whole new audience for craft-led shopping.

But what we really love about Bellwoods Lifestyle Store is the strength of their ethical credentials. Sure, their collections (sourced from all over the world, btw) are gorgeously design-led, but they’re also planet-friendly. Currently working to use no unnecessary plastic in the shop, Nathalie and her team ensure that they source items that have been made in both a cruelty-free and a waste-free manner. And not only do they reuse everything they can themselves, but their collections encourage us all to shop more sustainably for made-to-order, top quality products that can stand the test of time, too.

More than all this, Bellwoods have also spearheaded a number of key charitable and planet-saving initiatives to make the business as much of a retail force for good as possible. Take their monthly Give Back Fridays, for example, where the team donate a portion of their monthly sales to a different local charity, (they’ve donated £2,000 back into the North East already). Or perhaps the fact that they’re an official drop-off point for the East End Women’s food bank. Or what about the fact that they plant a tree with every online order they receive – having planted a cool 800 trees since they started the scheme back in November last year.

And so, as Bellwoods Lifestyle Store prepare to celebrate their first birthday as a physical retail space, we wanted to pass along our congratulations to a local business who are slaying when it comes to style, spirit and sustainability. Here’s to many more years of revolutionary retail!

Bellwoods are offering all HLN readers a cheeky 10% discount across their full collection from Sunday 10th July – Sunday 17th. Simply use code HLN SUMMER at checkout.