Busby & Fox | South Devon Success Stories

Alongside golden sandy beaches, turquoise shores and breathtaking countryside, South Devon also boasts an array of fantastic thriving businesses, including Busby & Fox. From independent boutiques to much-loved national brands that started here in South Devon, we want to celebrate these local establishments and the entrepreneurial, creative spirit of the people that started them.

To kick-start our South Devon Success Stories, we spoke to Emma Vowles, Founder and Creative Director of Busby & Fox – a collection of six lifestyle stores which first opened in Totnes. These characterful emporiums are treasure troves of glistening hair accessories and jewellery, cosy Scandi knits, and fabulous dresses and skirts to dress up or down for every occasion. You’ll also find those perfect finishing touches for your home or holiday cottage. Just remember to leave plenty of room in your suitcase, as it’s almost impossible to not be tempted by a new holiday wardrobe when visiting Busby & Fox.

Hello Emma, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how Busby & Fox all began?

 The start of Busby & Fox

I started on the path of my own business when my three daughters were all very young, my youngest the age of 6 months, and I started my floristry business. I worked in a florist before children, so after having my children I felt the urge to start something from home, which is how Emma Vowles Flowers started. My floristry business grew quite quickly and I found an opportunity at Avon Mill, where we opened a small lifestyle/floristry shop. Then, the big leap was Totnes high street where we opened a store and did a mixture of homeware and flowers.

We then introduced little accessories, basic knitwear, t-shirts, hats and homewares, so you could buy a lovely cardigan, a lamp and a vase of flowers – it all blended very much together.

We realised a high growth in the interest for clothing in our Totnes store – those easy pieces that you could wear for any size or fit, but with something with a bit of an edge. So, we evolved that and it grew very quickly.

At this point I realised that I couldn’t do it all, so I decided to leave Emma Vowles on a high. I was doing up to 120 weddings per year, so as you can imagine I could not sustain and run a shop, and look to open more stores.

Choosing the name Busby & Fox

It really felt right to call the business family and home. Busby is my Grandfather’s middle name and the fox is because I was brought up in Dittisham in Devon and it’s a strong creature, synonymous with the countryside – It just works. Busby my family, the fox my home.

Growing the business

My husband and I started to grow the business. At this point, I turned to my friend Sophie Cornish, founder of notonthehighstreet.com and said I wanted to open more stores – she knew what to do and she knew how to do it, and she was very supportive and very helpful. Then, two years ago, Sophie joined the business as a partner. So, Sophie, my husband are I are the three directors, the three musketeers, it’s been great.

We’ve grown from strength to strength and we now have six stores with a view to open more in the next 2-3 years.

Staying current

It’s so important for us to stay current and try our very best to give our customers what they want. There’s a lot of bad press regarding the high street at the moment, but we need to learn from these struggles.

Embracing our location and its people

We take absolute care in making sure our customers are made to feel that their needs are listened to. We don’t want to thrust what we think that person should wear, we want to hear what they need. We look at building core wardrobes that are moving forward with practicality and sustainability in mind. We’re not frivolous and with that attitude, we’re sustainable without even trying. We’re not exclusive, we want people to use other businesses in the town, or none of us survive. We have to make our highstreets interesting.

What have you enjoyed the most about starting a business here in South Devon?

 As a child, we would go down to the Ferry Boat Inn in Dittisham and they’d know what drink my mum and dad would like. The landlord would know you! It’s that sense of community which is very important to us. People like independent shops, where the retailer knows your name. It’s not about fashion, it’s about people feeling confident, happy and current. We offer tea and biscuits, a chat, and there’s space and time to try things on, not to mention honest advice and support … there’s always a bottle of fizz in the fridge – why not!

It amazes me how many people I recognise in our Henley shop that holiday in Salcombe and love our Salcombe shop. We’re doing something that hits the right nerve with women.

How did you decide where to open your stores?

It’s a bit like buying a house. You have your checklist of what you would like in a location. We look for period properties or a certain charm. The size of the town is important, market towns are great because they’re busy and they’re honest. Diversity is important to us, we have women of all ages, mothers and daughters. We go to towns and we sit and have coffee, we see who’s offering what, we get a vibe and we go with that gut feeling.

Every Busby & Fox store is so beautifully presented and inviting, what inspires you the most when deciding on a style and theme for each shop?

At Christmas, I’ll create wreaths and floral arrangements for all the stores, and we still sell fresh flowers wherever possible. A lot of people remember me as a florist, so I like to continue that story within the stores. We tweak each shop with the town’s needs as well as the individuals in that town. The majority of our customers in Salcombe have second homes and they’re another local, and when they come down they are on holiday. They’re relaxing, they want something they can wear to the beach or that they can wear in the house. Whereas in Totnes, the clothes reflect what a person might wear for work. Ultimately, it’s all about creating a nice welcoming environment where people feel comfortable.

What are your top tips for dressing a room to feel inviting and welcoming?

Keep it simple, don’t go too themed. Use a natural backdrop that you can regularly update with accessories, like cushions with a pop of colour which you can chop and change. I love big pieces, I really think that big pieces are under estimated. You think with a small room you need small things, but a small room can really hold a big mirror, a big picture, or a big sofa (bigger than you think you need) and I think that’s key to a space that really works well. Choose pieces that you really love. I’m a real magpie, I’m always finding vintage things, so you add your own personality with treasured items.

What are you most proud of about Busby & Fox?

Working with Sophie has been fantastic, amazingly enjoyable and such a learning curve – her having to find her way and me sponging off her knowledge. Sophie and I feel very fortunate that we have a great team. I’m really excited about finding new opportunity in new towns and sharing what we love.

Probably one of the most joyous things about what we’re doing is making women feel empowered and themselves again after they have lost their way. So, to put together and grow a wardrobe where they feel empowered, that’s what I love.

What do you look forward to in the year ahead?

Launching and working on our website has been fantastic, our customers have really enjoyed the extension of shopping from the comfort from their own home. The customers that visit can enjoy a bit of Busby & Fox from home, so I’m looking forward to working on that.

We’re looking at sourcing more beautiful fabrics and pieces that offer that something a little bit different.

What I miss and I haven’t done is hunt for more vintage pieces. Giving things new love and new life in the stores. Those little things that people see in the store and think, ‘that would look great in my hallway’ – I want to spend more time doing that.

I love getting creative and I’m trying to make more time to continue making our shops a really lovely place to go.

If you could give one piece of advice to those thinking of starting a business here in South Devon, what would it be?

Do something that feels very comfortable and natural. It’s not about reinventing the wheel, it’s about making it shiny and polishing it – that’s always been my thing. When I first started this I thought “who’s going to like my flowers?” and “why are people going to come to me?” but now I know. I was placing myself in an industry where there was demand and I was doing it my way. So, if you want to open a business here in South Devon, do what is right for you and stick to it. Don’t go against your gut feeling. Do your research. It’s very easy to think of a great idea and go tunnel vision. This is why I go and sit down and look at market towns and coastal towns; the town has to be right for your business. No one is going to come to a shop if there isn’t other reasons to come. So, if there wasn’t nice independent shops, cafés and butchers, then why would you go? You have to have a community. I think there’s probably a bit of a checklist. Do your research and follow your gut.

For those holidaying to the local area, what would you say is the most essential wardrobe piece to pack?

I would say that headbands are brilliant because you can wear them in the evening, or to the beach to keep hair out of your face. You can make an outfit that extra bit special with very little cost, so I think headbands are one of my favourite things at the moment. Click here to find a little piece of hair heaven by visiting the Busby & Fox website.

With so many successful South Devon businesses to visit, it’s no surprise that staycations are rising and booking demand is at an all time high. In fact, locations such as Salcombe and Dartmouth are currently amongst the top three holiday destinations in the UK. If you’re thinking of buying a holiday home in South Devon, we’ve put together some helpful tips from our local, expert New Property Consultants to help you find a property that will maximise your income in these bustling harbour towns. Click here to read our property owner blogs.

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For more inspirational South Devon Success Stories, click here to read our Q&A with Mark and Andrew Jordan, Founders of JAM Industries.