When Marnie Mackenzie and her daughter Sarah took on their own Inverness crafts shop three years ago, they knew it was a big risk.
However, the pair know opening Triquerta Crafts in the Victorian Market was the right choice, with regular visitors coming from afar as well as a local backbone of customers and crafters.
The business offers crafts from 130 local artists and Marnie knows many more crafters want to be “part of the Triquerta family”.
She believes the past 12 months have “exceeded all expectations” and is keen to keep growing this year.
Knowing the craft
Marnie believes the success in 2024 is down to the knowledge and care taken with every crafts piece on their shelves.
She said: “The aims were to keep growing the business while taking on board customer feedback as it’s vital to us.
“Things were going well before but we wanted to make sure we listen to customers in every way.
“Welcoming 30 new crafters is a big deal for us – there’s a waiting list of artists who want a space in our shop.
“It’s like a big family, we care and connect with our crafters so we can then pass on our knowledge and the full story to customers.”
Sarah believes having several different crafts equipment all under the same roof has been a big benefit to Triquerta Crafts.
She added: “We noticed over Christmas a lot of people were able to do all their shopping in one place – here.
“There’s something which is locally produced for everyone in the family with different wants and needs.”
Triquerta Crafts is ‘part of the daily routine’ for some
Marnie and Sarah see some people every day as Triquerta Crafts has “its own family”.
Marnie said: “Not everyone who walks in buys something, but lots come up to the counter anyways.
“Someone told us our shop feels like a warm hug – you can’t get better feedback than that.
“The support is overwhelming, people pop their head in every day to pet the dog and have a chat. It’s a part of the daily routine for them.
Sarah said the shop sees such a strong local support, but also benefits from people travelling popping in due to its “unique offerings”.
She added: “We have a really wide audience and people travel from all over to visit us.
“From the north of Scotland, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow – even all the way from Germany.
“People will repeatedly come up and pop in here specifically which is an amazing feeling.”
What does 2025 have in store for Triquerta Crafts in Inverness?
The pair have been planning for the year ahead by choosing which words relate to them the most.
Marnie said: “The words which came to mind were warmth, community, ethos and love.
“Our shop is not just about sales, we value those who come in even if it is just to pat our dog.
“That is as important as purchases, we make sure we have time for everyone.
“Something which has also been mentioned is we need to take the praise we get more often.
“We’re told we should be proud of ourselves as well as our crafters, as it’s down to us and our hard work.
“We’ve never really thought about it that way but we’re humbled by the praise.”
Conversation