‘Going from customer to running a ‘Darlington institution’ was a rollercoaster – but cheese is not just for Christmas!’
TAKING on an established business to make it your own can be a daunting prospect, especially if it is as well known as The Cheese and Wine Shop in Darlington’s Clark’s Yard.
But when it faced closure, Caroline Elliot took the reins and hasn’t looked back.
Caroline, originally from Newton Aycliffe, took over the running of The Cheese and Wine Shop in Clark’s Yard last year.
The shop was first opened in 1999 by Terry Farr and has had a number of different owners.
Caroline said how she ended up running one of Darlington’s most famous independent businesses.
She said: “The last owners had it through lockdown and then they started doing cheese and wine tastings. Last year they were going to close the shop because they had family issues. We saw it was closing and went to have a chat with them.
“We wanted to see if we could save it as we were also customers and decided to go for it.”
Caroline admitted she was a little naïve of the scale of running the business. She had been working from home ever since the pandemic and said she had become “bemused with the corporate world”.
The original plan was to keep to the same opening hours and Caroline would keep her full-time job as a product and marketing director.
However, she soon realised that would not be possible.
She said: “As we got into the business, we realised we needed to be open longer.
“It came to a point with my job where I’d had enough. I wanted to invest some time directly in the business myself. I wanted to get in really deep and make it work. So, I quit my job, rolled straight into it and we have not looked back since.”
Caroline’s husband Dean helps out at the store every other Saturday. Her stepdaughter also helps out and she employs a part-time member of staff called Katie, who Caroline said is fantastic.
The former product and marketing director detailed how much time she has put into making the business work.
“We have done our cheese courses, and connected with other cheese mongers in the UK. I was even invited by the French Dairy Board for a free trip to France in September with 30 other cheese mongers in the country. We went to see different cheesemakers, went to a cheese trade fair and got a cheese master class with a cheese expert,” she said.
“We have also done our wine courses and since we have had the business, we have decided we need to be open longer. Customers need businesses to be open when they need them. Especially with our product.”
The store is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm. It also does cheese and wine tastings once or twice a month.
She said: “Around February, we did a night called Stand and Sit because we didn’t have any chairs in the shop. Because of the popularity of that, we have been able to reinvest in the business and get some chairs. Now they sell out fast. As soon as they go on sale, they are sold out in a couple of days.”
The Cheese and Wine Shop also offer raclette nights and also plan to do fondue nights in the new year.
Caroline said: “The first year has been a rollercoaster, but it gets wild at Christmas. This is the busiest time of year.
“Last December, we did three times the normal amount of business. We are hoping for more this year, we are absolutely stocked up. We have got so many pre-orders we cannot take any more.
“Last year, when we had just taken the shop over, we could not believe how busy it was. Some people were queueing for an hour-and-a-half to get cheese. We didn’t realise the shop was a bit of a Darlington tradition in that way.
“But the key thing for us is keeping the shop alive and supporting the shop throughout the year as well. December is fantastic, that is what props is up for the rest of the year, but also, cheese is not just for Christmas.”
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Claire also said the cheeses the store offer caters to everyone, including people who are lactose intolerant.
“We champion a lot of local cheeses as well; we are always supporting local cheesemakers. But for people who are lactose intolerant, there are always other cheeses such as goats and sheep cheese, and they are not inferior to others.”
She said: “It is that community feel and that was the big thing for us. We did not want to lose that.”
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