Step through the door of Primary Colours and you’ll discover a toy shop a world apart from today’s typical out-of-town toy megastore.
Customers have called it an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’, a ‘cornucopia of colour and delight’, rather than a sea of plastic, flashing lights and electronic noise.
Primary Colours was started by Jennie and Adrian Pearson in 2005, at a time when Broad Street lacked a good quality children’s retailer.
William and Margrethe took over the shop in 2011, and for the past 16 years, William, assisted by Di McLennan and Hanaka Holland, has been welcoming generations of families into his cheerful emporium of traditional toys and children’s clothing.
Margrethe is a teacher at Woodroffe but you will occasionally see her behind the counter.
Before taking over the shop, William spent more than two decades as a dairy farmer.
The opportunity to take on Primary Colours offered a complete change of direction, and 16 years after hanging up his wellies, he still enjoys coming to work every day.
Readers may even have spotted William cycling into town on his distinctive three-wheeled bicycle – something that has become almost as recognisable as the shop itself.
Today, Primary Colours has become a shop that people return to again and again, for both local families and visitors.
William said: “Being in a family holiday town is really special. Children come in with their holiday spending money, grandparents want to treat the grandchildren and parents are looking for something a bit different.
“We are real toy snobs. We only stock the toys and clothes that we’d choose to give to our own children and grandchildren.”
Rather than chasing the latest trends, the shop focuses on products that are well made and stimulate the imagination.
“We are so lucky to be based in Lyme Regis,” said William. “We have a loyal local customer base popping in all year round but we also enjoy seeing families coming back on holiday year after year, so much so we have now watched children grow up and come back themselves as parents.
“It’s the variety of customers that keeps every day interesting. We try to cater for all ages from Steiff teddy bears for newborns to board games and Warhammer for adults. I genuinely enjoy it and I’d feel like I was letting people down if we weren’t here.”
Looking ahead, William hopes to continue growing the business while staying true to what has made it successful in the first place.
He said: “We are working on our website but we would love to see more people outside the busy summer season. Increasingly we are seeing customers coming to Lyme for the weekend and doing their Christmas shopping here.
“With such a diverse range of shops in such a small town, we have customers who manage to get all their presents in Lyme. This year, we even had someone buying in February for Christmas, which must be a record.”