The Story... So Far

O+M snowhome is the slightly unweildy, tounge-twistery full name of our little shop, and this - as all the best fireside stories go - is how it got that name....

snowhome first opened its doors in August 2001 in a tiny shop on Gillygate backed by an equally tiny budget.  Founder Angus McArthur's vision was for a design store and the result was a mix of products and brands, many of which were not widely available outside London at that time. In the intervening years the has continued to adapt and change during that time in line with Angus' firm belief that small businesses have the potential to offer a place for good in their community, a place for creativity, collaboration, innovation and inspiration.

snowhome was lucky enough to be featured in Woven Rosa’s blog detailing the 43 best independent homewares shops in the UK. You read read their full list here https://www.wovenrosa.com/journal/best-independent-homeware-shops-uk-2020.

We - husband and wife team Helen & Matt - began our shopkeeping journey in 2009 when we opened the virtual doors to the Owl & Monkey website.  This became a bricks and mortar store in 2017 when a one-room corner shop became available on Heslington Road in York. We opened our doors with a simple vision: to create a joyful space and slow-shopping experience, offering connection, sharing, inspiration based round a carefully selected range of goods to spark joy in the everyday.

With a focus on quality, thoughtful design and a broad range of values that ensure we try to do as much good and as little harm as possible individual makers' work sat alongside goods from conscientious large scale international manufacturers.

As 2019 turned into 2020 Angus announced his decision to close snowhome and concentrate his energies on The (very excellent) York Ghost Merchants: we saw a very interesting and exciting opportunity to expand O+M and take on a modern icon of York's retail scene.  Rapidly the concept of bringing together the best of both our stores was born.

Going forward we intend to stay true to our shared values and, in so doing, we hope we will remain a place that both ours and Snowhome's communities feel part of, somewhere that new discoveries can be made but old favourites still be found.