Shop labelled 'Aladdin's cave of wonders' finds new home

Wendy Hindley has been running Cricklade-based Indico from above a hair salon since 2019, with the store often regarded as a hidden gem on the High Street. 

Others have called the retail offering an 'Aladdin's cave of wonder' because of Wendy's arrangements of carefully curated cushions, throws, bags, lanterns, rugs, jewellery, clothes and furniture.

But now the store will be a secret no more as it has stepped out into the light, into a new bigger unit next door, and it now has its own entrance. 

The 55-year-old had a grand opening for the store in its new location last weekend, which she says went really well. 

"It was brilliant. Yeah, it was really good, I opened between 10 and 4 and a lot of our regular customers came along to support me. It was a busy day."

Indico at its new location on Cricklade High Street (Image: Wendy Hindley)

When asked why she felt now was the time to move from her previous home to this new one, Wendy explained that the opportunity just happened to come up. 

"Previously I was upstairs next door above the hair salon and people had to go through the salon to get to me," she said. 

"But now I have my own bigger space with my own front door so people will be able to find me organically.

"I've already had loads of nice comments from people about the new store and lots of good feedback about how it’s looking and what a nice atmosphere it is."

The new store is located at 89 High Street and currently boasts very colourful window displays, which customers have come to expect from Wendy.  

Indico began when Wendy visited India some years ago and developed into a passion for the vibrant textiles, fantastic handicrafts and intricate designs found there.

This led to Wendy starting to sell some of the things at local markets before eventually becoming a bricks and mortar store. 

She added: "To be honest, I was really happy with the space I had before, although it probably narrowed down the amount of people that found me organically.

"But this space came up next door which is all part of the same building and owned by the same landlord and they offered it to me first.

"I thought 'let's just give it a go, it's a bit bigger and there are more financial implications but let's just jump, take a leap of faith and see how we go'"