Village Squire, 1978-11, Page 21Margaret Se%ern turned to her old interest in merchandising
when an alternative job was needed.
Once upon a time people put a good deal of effort into
decorating their Iivingroom but their bathroom. their kitchen and
their bedrooms. well those were just rooms where you did
necessary chores. Today the trend has changed and with it has
come little shops like The Feather Tick in Exeter.
The Feather Tick which opened two years ago is all about
interior decorating. particularly of the rooms mentioned above
and naturally enough it's a very attractive place to shop. George
and Margaret Severn have recently opened a new expanded
operation just up the street from their original tiny location and it
gives a beautiful setting in which to show off the merchandise.
George did all the work in the setting up of the new shop which
opened in September. He designed wooden beams to give the
room a feeling of cosiness while still showing off the old ceiling of
the store. 1 -le also designed and built most of the display shelves
and other display units which suit the kind of merchandise the
store is offering.
The shop is unique among shops in the smaller towns in the
area because of its specialities. Margaret Severn says she didn't
model her shop after any other. she just looked Exeter over. and
thought of what was needed most and so decided to open a shop
The
Fea ther
Tick
Finding happiness
in kitchen,
bed and bath
that offered something different. The original shop on Exeter's
main street catered mainly to the kitchen and bathroom with a
few giftware lines thrown in. But the shop was so crowded, she
says. it was hard to show it off well.
The shop came about through a number of circumstances. The
couple came from Toronto originally. In 1963 George was
transferred by his engineering company to a London office.
Four and a half years ago the couple bought a house in Exeter
and moved north of the city to live. Then came the word that the
company wanted to transfer George back to Toronto and the
couple had to make a decision. They'd grown to like Exeter and
didn't look forward to moving back to the big city again. They
had to decide whether to move back or to start over.
Thus the idea of the shop came up. Margaret wasn't new to
the merchandising business. She had owned a little shop in Port
Credit selling antiques and crafts but she had to sell it when
George was transferred to London. So it was natural for her to
think of starting a shop as an alternative to going back to
Toronto.
The ideas for what to stock in the shop came from her own
experience with living in Exeter. So many times when she
November 1978 The Village Squire 19