York shop to close – ‘but please don’t be sad’

Another York shop is to close – but this should not be seen as bad news, says its owner.

Gift shop Walter & May, on Scarcroft Road, will shut in January.

Selling independent brands and design led gifts and home decor, Walter & May also ran creative workshops, from jewellery making to mindfulness mornings.

But while the physical shop will close in the New Year, the growing online business will continue.

Owner Beth Elsdon told her customers: “I have made the heartbreaking decision so close my beautiful shop in January. But please don’t be sad.”

Evolved and grown

In a message on the shop’s Facebook page, Beth wrote: “My heart and my head have been having an epic battle about the shop for months now and now both hurt.

“This is definitely not a woe is me post and I can’t even blame Covid. I have simply decided to choose me.

“I can no longer run what are essentially two businesses and have any kind of work life balance. The shop has evolved and grown month on month and it has been the most wonderful and challenging experience that I am unbelievably thankful for.

“But the online business has also evolved and grown beyond anything I believed it could be. So a choice needed to be made if I was to retain any kind of sanity.”

Restrictions allowing, “we can well and truly have a last hurrah in the shop and close on a high with balloons and fizz, surrounded by all the amazingly beautiful people I have met on this journey for whom I am so grateful”.

Customers were sad but supportive about the news. “While this gorgeous corner of York will be so sorely missed, I can’t wait to see how Walter & May continues to grow and change,” said one.

Another wrote: “This is terribly sad news. Such a lovely shop always with excellent customer service. Good luck with your online venture and a more positive work life balance.”