A Decade of Dreams
2013 – Where it all began
We are Molly and Harriet, numbers one and three in a line of four sisters. With over 30 years of combined experience in bedroom high street retail, we always planned and dreamed of doing something of our own, but doing it a little differently. So in March 2013, over a cup of coffee, and some enthusiastic encouragement, Secret Linen Store was born. Molly used her textile design experience to create a collection of 12 bed linens and marketing guru Harriet launched them.
2014 – Hello Trophy Cabinet
We were tickled pink by the attention our beautiful bed linen garnered during this first year. We’d created top quality, luxury bedding at fair and honest prices and people were falling in love and buying it. We even started winning prizes and were proud to pick up the Retail Week Award for ‘Start Up Retailer Of The Year’.
2016 – Pillowcase to Dress
Reducing waste was always important to us so in 2016 we jumped at the opportunity to work with a charity which accepted donations of little dresses that had been made from upcycled pillowcases. We now ship regular parcels to Dress a Girl Around the World bursting with beautiful clothing (not just dresses!) made by our thoughtful and crafty customers.
2017 – Softest Bedding
It was a natural progression for us to provide luxury bedding for our customers’ beds, to be used alongside their lovely new bed linen. After much research we found the best factory, making the most fabulous products, and launched our made-to-order bedding range, all freshly-filled in Scotland.
2018 – Lovely Linen
Linen is an ideal fabric for bed linen; it’s brilliantly breathable, amazingly moisture-wicking and supremely comfortable. We knew our customers would appreciate all that linen had to offer to their bedtime so we added 100% linen bed linen to our range. We now have over 35 different linen designs and colours, and linen constitutes over half of our entire collection.
Towels also made their first appearance this year and we can now furnish bathrooms in waffle and luxury towels in a whole rainbow of glorious colours.
2019 – Curtain Calling
The small selection of 100% linen curtain panels we launched in 2019 were snapped up by our loyal customers and they’ve been so popular that the range has since exploded. Blackouts, extra-long panels and, most recently, eyelets have all joined our growing curtain family which now numbers 64 different styles, sizes and colours.
2020 – Cutting our Carbon
As part of our continued effort to do the best we can for our planet, we knew the next step was to invest in offsetting our carbon footprint. After much research, we jumped into bed with Ecologi who helped us offset all our operational carbon emissions for the first time this year. They really know their stuff when it comes to providing solutions for businesses like ours.
2021 – Comfy clothing
Nightwear was next on our bedtime wish list and so our cosy range of loungewear and comfy night-time clothes made its first appearance on the website in 2021. After much honing and tweaking, we now have a stylish and comfortable clothing collection that makes us ever so proud.
2023 – Making Things Better
Well, where do we start? This – our 10th – year has been a big one. We’ve made over 60,000 beds and won three awards this year alone, and now have a blossoming team of 31 bed makers.
We have found some fabulous charity bedfellows and, as well as donating over £40,000 to Choose Love this year, we have raised almost £1000 for local community project, Sussex Seabed Restoration Project, and we also regularly donate surplus product to Goods for Good.
This year Molly and Harriet have rolled over and made some room in the big Secret Linen Store bed for a third sister, Rosie, who is helping take the business bounding into its next decade. Rosie’s entrepreneurial spirit is just what we need to grow and develop and we welcome her fresh thinking and boundless enthusiasm for our little bed-making business.
But by far our biggest achievement this year has been receiving our B Corp certification. The team worked tirelessly for more than a year, scrutinising our sources, evaluating our policies and assessing our procedures to answer over 250 questions to determine whether we meet B Lab’s ambitious standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. And we are proud as punch to now be an official B Corporation, a true validation of our efforts to balance purpose with profit.
The future is looking very pink and positive and we can’t wait to jump in, get cosy and see what the next decade has to offer us here at Secret Linen Store.
Is it bedtime yet?
