Hello dear email subscribers,
Apologies for the long email but we have some important news to share, and I wanted to share it with you first, in a more personal note than will be shared on our public platforms. Those of you who have been with us from the beginning, when our shop was founded in 2017 at our kitchen table in London, will have followed us through the slow natural growth that we have been lucky enough to enjoy since then.
Over the last four years we have experienced many changes that have made it difficult to carve out the kind of slow thoughtful spaciousness that is the very core of our business. From the unexpected surge in demand during the initial Covid-19 lockdowns alongside logistical and supply chain issues, to the many challenges and bureaucratic hurdles brought by Brexit, through the volatility and economic shifts brought on by political unrest and inflation, the last years have kept us on our feet with the constant shifts and changes that so many of us have weathered.
I am a big lover of change. Even when it is challenging and unwanted, the destruction of the old so often pushes us to grow into something deeper than our previous iteration. But change also requires time and space to be processed and integrated and this is especially necessary when the shifts are not ones we have chosen.
As I have watched one small business after another close on the little high street next to our home, with some new businesses lasting no more than a handful of months, I have felt especially grateful for all of your continued support.
When my partner and I started Ellei Home seven years ago (which in its origin in London was called Ingredients LDN) we had intended to follow the same growth trajectory that I understood as the only model for a successful business. We intended to expand once we could and hire staff and move into ever larger warehousing.
But in running a small business something shifted. Even before the big shifts in awareness that began during the Covid-19 lockdowns, I began to realise that this type of growth would mean giving up everything I loved about running my business and instead doing work that I did not feel aligned with. As we grew our business organically, I realized that I cherished the freedom and flexibility offered to me by keeping my business intentionally small. This way of working meant that I could adjust and realign my business as felt right to me, always solely on the basis of my own values and vision. Moreover, staying small offered enormous freedom in a way that I foresaw closing down with every new step of expansion.
To say that I am grateful for the support we have received throughout the years and through our unconventional ways of working is an understatement. It has been humbling to receive your kind feedback on our shop and blog even as the world around us all shifted and changed and morphed into something very different to the pre-pandemic world.
But as the shifts and changes of the last years accumulated, the spaciousness I previously had within this business began to diminish. The space to think and research new thoughtful blog posts, the space to plan and execute beautiful photoshoots, and the space to collaborate with makers and artisans to create unique products aligned with our ethos and designed with our ethics and aesthetic in mind.
What has disappeared with all the change is the pause, the breath in between, that allowed me to dream and read and brainstorm and learn. For the last four years, as we have attempted to adjust to the many changes and challenges we have faced, the spaces in between have gotten ever smaller and the spaciousness has all but disappeared.
With a deep knowing that it is time to pause, process, and integrate all that has unfolded, both within our own small business as well as in the wider world, we will be taking the next year out to move out into the world.
From the end of July, we will be putting our shop on hold for roughly one year. The plan, as it stands, is to move out of our everyday and move into our beautiful world in order to immerse ourselves in nature, culture, architecture, craft, people and diversity. To wander out with open eyes and a beginner’s mind to connect with all of the beauty and magic contained within this treasure chest that is our blue home.
During our time away, you will not be able to place orders and we will be answering emails only sporadically, as we move in and out of rural areas and wilderness without connectivity. At the same time, I hope to be able to keep this space open in order to periodically share some of the beauty that we encounter. As we are yet to discover how this process will unfold, I cannot share more at this stage, only the knowing that we do not want to close this space down entirely during our time away. I hope to be able to share relevant things of value as we discover them on our travels.
We will be welcoming your orders up until the end of July, and we will be available to deal with any issues and customer service queries until the end of August. After this period you will hear from us sporadically vie email and Instagram for one year before we hope to reopen the shop.
We welcome your feedback on this change and any thoughts or questions you may have. I will be sharing more details about final order dates in due course but for now, once again, thank you so much for supporting us throughout the trials and tribulations of the last four years. It has been a challenging yet growthful period and I look forward to being able to take this pause to reflect on and integrate everything I have learned.
With my deepest gratitude,
Nina
