Oldmangrey in 2023

The Oldmangrey family! Artist and designer Graeme Clark aka Oldmangrey with his wife Nic and their Cairn Terrier Pip, taking a selfie with the sun shining through from behind them.

I wanted to finish 2023 with a short blog looking back at our highs and lows of the year, particularly on the product side of the business as we’re focussing most of our efforts here at the moment. Most importantly, we want to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who follows, supports, and spends with Oldmangrey.

Partnership

Many of you will be aware that Nic and I now run Oldmangrey Illustration as a Partnership, with Nic working full time on the business. This decision has been a bit of a gamble in the current economic climate, but there are already real signs of growth in the business, so we’ve lots of exciting plans ahead to sustain this into next year,. It’s genuinely lovely to work together – there’s been no fall outs yet...!

Expanding our retail horizons, including into wholesale

We’re really proud to say that Oldmangrey pet illustrated products are now stocked in ten independent retailers across the UK, both through sale-and-return and as part of our expansion into wholesale this year, with our first wholesale catalogue launched in April. We now have small business connections in Edinburgh & the Lothians, Glasgow, and Manchester, and are excited to grow this further in 2024…Paris and New York next?!

Oldmangrey on the Road

And speaking of broadening our horizons, we travelled even further to markets this year than ever before. We popped up north twice to the incredible Bowhouse in Fife with Tea Green Events , spent a lovely weekend down south near Newcastle at the North East Dog Festival in September, visited East Lothian for two markets at Cockenzie House and Gardens and a Village Green Makers Market in East Linton, and travelled west through to Glasgow for the fun GUVMA Rodeo in April.

New product launches

As always, we added new breeds to the range and created a new calendar, but it was the launch of two brand new types of product in September that were really exciting; our four ‘Mini Dachshund and Whippet’ coasters, and the ‘Walkies’ Tea Towel, which has been a big hit so far. And I can exclusively reveal here that my ‘Moggies’ tea towel for feline fans will be coming in 2024!

An image of my large 100% organic cotton ' Walkies' Tea Towel, sitting on a pale wooden surface with a set of wooden cutlery. The tea towel has a digital illustration of the outline of nine different dog breeds each in a different colour.

Outdoor market weather

I think it’s fair to say that Scotland has some surprises in store when trying to attend outdoors markets…! Whether it was Portobello Market cancelled due to the high winds in July, or setting up in the pouring rain for Doghailes in the same month, or the sudden surprise cold snap in October which meant Nic spent a whole day standing in 1oC at Harmony Gardens, we’ve had the lot this year! Indoor markets are our priority for 2024 😉

A photo of Nic & Graeme Clark, from Oldmangrey Illustration, smiling despite being completely soaked in the rain! They both have hoods up and Nic's glasses are covered in rain drops. A wet grey backdrop with trees without leaves is behind them. — *This picture wasn’t taken at a market but is very much what we looked like during set up for Doghailes in July! Thankfully the sun shone on us as the day went on.*

Cost of Living

The biggest challenge facing all small businesses, and some of the bigger ones too, as customers are spending less. We feel it as consumers ourselves: we have higher energy bills, pay more for less in our food shop, and think harder about how we spend our disposable income. We’ve seen an impact on sales at markets, and less pet portraits commissioned. It’s both reassuring and concerning that we’ve heard the same from other stall holders; in particular that the Christmas sales, whether at markets or online, haven’t seen the usual big boom. We’re incredibly grateful for every pound you choose to spend with us, and just ask that you keep us and other local businesses in mind in 2024.

Cost of materials

Tied to the cost of living, we’ve also seen an increase in the costs from many of our suppliers, who are relatively small local businesses too. As we’re not a large organisation ordering in thousands of units at a time (not only due to the initial cost outlay, but our one bedroom house can only store so many tea towels!) so our relatively small margins are being squeezed further. And while our customers are having to watch how they spend their money, it’s not always possible to pass on these increased costs.

Graeme Clark aka Oldmangrey and his wife Nic sat on their grey sofa, with their dog Pip a brown grey Cairn Terrier sat between them.

2024

I’ve kept the best til last and ending on the most important message – THANK YOU. Because of you, whether you’ve liked our social posts, stocked our products, organised a market, ordered from our Etsy shop, or commissioned a pet portrait, we are continuing our small business into the New Year and looking forward to an exciting 2024. We feel so fortunate and very excited to do so 😊

Keep an eye on our social pages next year for details on new products, a big reveal of an exciting piece of corporate design work, our adventures to reach more of you animal fans at new markets and through new retailers in 2024, and of course we’ll be making sure Pip has another amazing year too!

Have a wonderful Christmas, fun festivities, and a happy and healthy 2024 x

A mockup of Oldmangrey Illustration pet illustrated products. There's a dog tote bag on the left, a Greyfriars Bobby print & Ragdoll cat print next, with a rabbit print & cat tote bag next to them, & on the right a bit of a colouring book is visible. — **Want to find out more about the businesses that stock Oldmangrey goodies?**

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