AS PART of our continuing spotlight feature on traders and businesses across Conwy and Denbighshire, this week we profile a new store in Prestatyn run by mother and daughter Emma Williams and Susan Thorn.

Maple bay Boutique is located on Lon Alwen, just off the town’s High Street. The business has been open for one month but is already proving a huge hit with customers!

Sizes range from 8 to 26

Sizes range from 8 to 26

Maple bay Boutique sells women’s clothing, handbags, gifts and accessories. Sizes range from eight to 32.

Both mum and daughter say they love Autumn, but are Christmas mad!

Emma, 33, said: “We are currently ready for Autumn and we have lots of scarves, jumpers and blankets available to stay snuggly. We also have, dare I say it, some Christmas items out!”

Gifts ready for Christmas.

Gifts ready for Christmas.

Emma are Susan have always shared clothes and have a “very close bond”.

“We work well together and we give our customers confidence because they can see our products on different ages,” Emma said.

“Age should not stop you from wearing what you love.

“We love buying our stock together and getting two different tastes into the shop.”

Snuggly jumpers and handbags are popular.

Snuggly jumpers and handbags are popular.

Emma’s most memorable moment in business is when the pair lost their premises of six years due to the Covid-19 pandemic; Emma and Susan previously had a stand in the Bayview Shopping Centre in Colwyn Bay.

“We had a massive customer base in Colwyn Bay but we only had a little stand in the middle of the shopping centre. It was outside Iceland,” Emma added.

“When Covid hit, and we had to close, it was incredibly hard to recover from it. We did not receive all the grants from the government due to the type of business we were, so we had to walk away, it was absolutely devastating.

Gift vouchers available.

Gift vouchers available.

“We started from scratch and decided to take our shop online, and so for the past year we have built our website, and started selling to people around the UK.

“There is only one problem with being online and that’s the lack of face to face interaction with customers. We absolutely adore being able to give tips and tricks to people, we love to make them feel confident and comfortable and that’s difficult over a computer screen.

“Don’t get me wrong, we love our new ‘Maple Leaves’ (our online customers) but we needed to spread our wings again.

“The boutique and online store complement each other beautifully now. Our boutique is small and cosy. We’ve always loved shops where you go inside and you’re just like ‘wow - I’m definitely going to find something I want in here, there’s loads of goodies to look at’, so that was our goal and I think we got there.

“We are so proud to be a part of such a beautiful and thriving community. We always say everything happens for a reason and we believe Prestatyn was waiting for us.”

Visit Maple bay Boutique, 1 Lon Alwen, Prestatyn, LL199DP or Facebook.com/maplebayboutique