Making pictures to hang on the walls of Katie and Jack Hopcroft’s playroom was the moment Home of Hopcroft was born.
So it’s fitting that Katie, 9, and Jack, 7, are an integral part of the gift and homeware business run by their parents Charlene and Greig.
The family spent the 2020 Covid lockdown transforming an empty unit in Kirkcaldy High Street into what is now a thriving enterprise.
And when they are not at school the children often help out, serving customers or assisting Charlene with her latest creations.
They even run their own spin-off venture, Hoppy Hut, a stall selling Crocs charms at school fairs.
Charlene, 36, and Greig, 43, are proud that being involved in the creation of Home of Hopcroft has taught Katie and Jack about good work ethic.
“They know things don’t fall into your lap you’ve got to work for it,” says Charlene. “And they are happy to be part of that.”
Home of Hopcroft sells wall art and crafts made by Charlene as well as items by other artists and crafters. It opened in December 2020 in the restored 16th Century Merchants House.
Before its creation, Charlene was a travel agency manager.
She says: “When the kids came along I realised I didn’t want to work for anyone else and I wanted a little bit more freedom.
How playroom prints spiralled into a business
“Lockdown came and it gave everyone that opportunity to re-evaluate.
“We had a playroom for the kids and I was wondering what I could put on the walls.
“I was inspired by different wall art and posters I saw online and thought I could easily make them myself.”
At home in Kinglassie she made three framed prints with the initials K and J and the phrase ‘play all day’ on spotty backgrounds.
And she was so proud of her artistic efforts she posted photos of them on social media.
Impressed friends asked if she could make similar pictures for them.
“It spiralled from there,” she says.
Charlene began selling framed wall art on online crafts marketplace Etsy, where she still does most of her business.
But early in 2020 a family walk along Kirkcaldy Esplanade started the next chapter of Home of Hopcroft.
“We weren’t looking for it,” says Greig, who also works as an IT manager. “It just happened. We were out for a walk along the prom and we walked back along the High Street and saw the shop.”
Merchants House was being restored and Merchants House Café was opening next door.
Jumping in with both feet
“There was a ‘to let’ sign up,” recalls Charlene. “I thought that could be a Home of Hopcroft in there.”
The couple phoned the number on the sign as soon as they got home and went to view the premises a week later. They returned for a second viewing just an hour later.
“That day we pretty much agreed we were doing it,” says Charlene. “When we decide to do something we jump in with both feet!”
The family spent several months building the business before the shop opened that December.
Katie and Jack would often join their parents helping out where they could, turning the empty shell into a beautiful gallery for Charlene’s wall art.
“It was a whirlwind,” says Charlene. “The kids were extremely young but they played a part. They’re very hands-on I’ve got pictures of Jack hoovering up.
“They learned that Mummy and Daddy were going to put their heart and soul into this.
“We’ve never let having kids stop us doing anything – they come on the journey with us.”
Now Katie and Jack are familiar faces to regular customers.
During school holidays one or both will sometimes accompany Charlene to work.
“They will come and do a whole shift with me serving customers,” says Charlene. “They love it and the customers love it.”
Making business trips into family getaways
The family recently attended Scotland’s Trade Fair together and make weekend trips of visits to suppliers down south.
“We try to make it fun for them,” says Charlene, ” but they know there’s a business element to it too.
“When you really enjoy your job it’s not a job it’s a way of life and that is us. And they are part of that.
“It’s not like a chore. They know we are trying to build something for their future.”
Last December, Katie and Jack took Hoppy Hut to Christmas fairs at their own school and schools in Kirkcaldy.
They created signs and printed jumpers with Hoppy Hut branding and mounted thousands of shoe charms on displays.
And their stalls did a roaring trade.
They plan to resurrect Hoppy Hut in the summer.
Charlene and Greig believe they are passing on the work ethic and morals they learned from their parents and grandparents.
Both Charlene’s parents were in the army and Greig’s grandparents ran The Novar bar in Kirkcaldy.
By coincidence, Charlene’s grandparents met in a shop just a stone’s throw from Home of Hopcroft.
Her grandfather, who worked in a florist’s shop, would buy his tobacco from the nearby tobacconist’s where her grandmother worked as a teenager.
‘We work hard and play hard’
“From a young age, what Katie and Jack will remember is Mummy and Daddy working hard for the future,” says Charlene.
“We work hard and play hard,” says Greig.
And the couple stress there’s still plenty of time to play outside Home of Hopcroft.
Greig, Katie and Jack are avid Raith Rovers supporters and spend many Saturday afternoons in the stands of Starks Park.
Charlene says: “It’s not all just work for us.
“We go on holidays frequently, we go on days out, we have nice things.
“But they know we only have that because of the graft.”
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