An Aladdin’s cave of gorgeous objects
I love coming across a new store, especially one that has a fabulous mix of independent designers, menswear, jewellery, homewares and the most beautiful collection of dried flowers.
A veritable Aladdin’s cave of gorgeous objects if you will and of course it can be found right in the centre of Clonakilty town which is one of my favourite places to go for food and a potter at the moment.
I am loving the vibe of Hunter & Bloom, a store set up this year by husband and wife team Meg and Sean when the duo collaborated their businesses and made their dream of owning a shop a reality.
The pair moved from Dublin with the aspirations of quitting the 9-5 and starting their own businesses and as they said themselves: “What better place to do this than Clonakilty?”
Seán started off his business with Manlystuff.ie in 2015 with a few safety razors and soaps and his love of men’s grooming products has grown from there. After being let down on his wedding suit, Seán turned his experience into a positive and began his search for tailors in Italy and has been making MTM suits as Hunter Treacy Tailors since 2020.
He now has a selection of menswear, shaving supplies, ties, pocket squares and watches to name but a few products. It’s like going through a secret door at the back of the store to enter this beautifully set up tailors and featuring thousands of fabrics for made to measure suits and shirts.
If you have an upcoming wedding or just fancy treating yourself to a new suit, then a visit to Hunter & Bloom is a must.
There’s also a gentle relaxed vibe to the store and this is apparent the minute you walk through the door and see the beautiful wall of dried flowers. Meg started her dried flower business Thorn and Bloom in 2020.
The flower wall was designed to not only be visually pleasing but that customers can also pick and mix the flowers they would like to include in their bouquet. Meg also has some bundles pre-prepared if you would just like to grab a bunch on the go.
Relying mainly on Instagram story sales, she grew the business and now does weddings and occasion as well as floral installations and wall hangings. There’s also a beautiful selection of boho homewares including vases and jars, perfect for holding those dried flower arrangements, candle stick holders, cushions and some dinnerware everything you need to create beautiful tablescapes in your own home.
I recently purchased a fab cushion from there for a vintage wicker fan chair I found and the quality is superb.
One of my favourite items they make and stock are the quote necklaces and those have really taken off with people loving the quirkiness of them. The beautiful 18k gold plated and sterling silver disc necklaces are stamped with some of their favourite Cork and Dublin sayings such as ‘Deadly Buzz’, ‘Haunted’, ‘Gulr’ and my personal favourite ‘Notions’.
They are always on the lookout for new quotes to use, so if you’re in store let them know of any sayings or phrases you use all the time! The necklaces are a cute and quirky gift for someone or for yourself and come presented in a gorgeous pink velvet gift box.