It’s filling a gap in the Vale of Pewsey – and it is named after two family pets: Digger (who happened to sit on the right) and Mojo (who could barely sit still on the left.) Having come home to the Vale, Clarissa and Yosh Reilly have created “Digger and Mojo – the home of vintage furniture and stuff”.
They started about a year ago intending to have a warehouse base and do all their selling online. But they soon discovered that many people still like to see and touch what they are going to buy: “So by popular demand, in November, we opened up here for visitors.”
The warehouse in Pewsey’s Salisbury Road Business Park was quickly turned into a showroom and they are now open Wednesdays to Saturdays (10.00am to 5.00pm) for visiting shoppers: “We like doing discounts for locals and we like to meet people.”
The discounts apply for local buyers as their usual prices include delivery to any address in the United Kingdom. The Reilly’s are developing their own network of trusted hauliers willing to go the extra mile with a treasured piece of furniture.
Visitors will find a truly eclectic array of furniture and decorative objects in various styles and from many different decades of the last century. They sell anything from decorative antiques to retro furniture – when you visit you will notice their specially fine line in retro dining chairs – straight out of Mad Men.
Clarissa is sure that to find a vintage furniture shop with as eclectic a choice as Digger and Mojo, you would have to go to Bristol, Brighton or London.
Visitors will also find Yosh’s extensive workshop.
This is where the venture deploys its unique selling point: he restores and perks up the furniture they buy at fairs and markets.
It is delicate work – matching woods and stains. And making sure the piece still looks like it was meant to look – or, sometimes, is given an entirely new life.
Yosh tells me: “I like finding interesting pieces and restoring their integrity – once they’re repaired and fixed they’ve got their history back.” Sometimes he brings pieces up to date with new ideas – and colours – that make them suitable for modern living.
Yosh trained in agriculture, but then joined the army for a six year short service commission with the infantry – based in Cyprus and Tidworth with what was then the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters. After that he worked abroad for sixteen years in tropical agriculture.
This involved work in tea and coffee horticulture in Africa and, for five years, in Papua New Guinea. So when you buy PNG coffee in its latest packaging from the local supermarket – Yosh probably had a hand in growing that special strain of beans.
Clarissa spent many years abroad and then, when their two children were older, she commuted – “as it were” – from PNG. The couple have connections to the Vale going back 45 years. They were married in Wilsford 20 years ago – and they now live there.
Digger and Mojo does have another string to its bow (or perhaps its ‘another arrow in its quiver’ – you never know what you will find in their showroom): they undertake bespoke services. So if you have inherited a piece of furniture from your aunt and you want to keep it, but it does not fit a space or a use in your home, they will adapt pieces to your needs.
And if you are moving into the Vale area or are downsizing – there is no better place to begin your hunt for specially suitable decorative furniture than at Digger and Mojo. And Clarissa and Yosh will be there – happy to help: “We’re enjoying ourselves.”
Check out the Digger and Mojo website. They are at Unit 9, Salisbury Road Business Park, Pewsey, SN9 5PZ – 01672 562222. [Click on photos to enlarge them.]
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