A chance to buy a little part of historic Britain - the Pooh Corner gift shop, tearoom and garden in Hartfield, East Sussex.
POOH CORNER, HARTFIELD A WONDERFUL, UNIQUE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY Pooh Corner was established in 1978 with just a handful of Winnie-the-Pooh souvenirs. It now claims the largest selection in the UK, and possibly the World, of Pooh-phernalia: a description of the hundreds of different items for sale featuring Pooh and his well known friends from the Hundred Acre Wood - Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga & Roo, Rabbit, Owl and of course Christopher Robin. It is sometimes said that Pooh Corner is the gateway to Pooh Country - the origin of all things Winnie-the-Pooh. In the 1920’s A.A.Milne was living in a farmhouse on the outskirts of Hartfield Village about a mile from (what is now) the Pooh Corner shop. He set his famous stories in and around the nearby, beautiful Ashdown Forest. There’s Galleon’s Lap, Where the North Pole Was, Roo’s Sandy Pit, site of The Heffalump Trap, the original Poohsticks Bridge and the memorial stones to A.A.Milne and illustrator E.H.Shepherd now called ‘The Enchanted Place’. Christopher Robin recalls his childhood in his book ‘The Enchanted Places’ and remembered his weekly trips with his Nanny to Hartfield Village visiting the shop, then known as Sackville Cottage, to purchase sweets. Over the years the business has grown with the addition of the tearoom and garden in the mid 2000’s and more recently the charming refurbishment of the maisonette ‘Owl’s House’ to provide first class holiday accommodation or to provide an owner’s residence. ‘Owl’s House’ has its own website ‘Pooh Corner Holidays’ and it is promoted through ‘Cottages 4 You’ and ‘Country Cottages’ online. In December 2010, planning consent was granted for the creation of another flat by enlarging and extending the Old Bakery building but still retaining the ground floor existing uses. Although the first mail-order catalogue and subsequently an online store, were established during the 1980’s and 90’s, there is still considerable potential to develop web based retailing and the promotion of Pooh Corner as a major tourist destination. Access to the Ashdown Forest and the real Pooh Places are free but you can get maps, guides and the ‘Official Pooh Corner Rules for Playing Poohsticks’ in the Pooh Corner Shop. After over 30 years of promoting Pooh Country, the owners now wish to retire. Their expertise in matters Winnie-the-Pooh has recently been recognised. The Walt Disney animation studio engaged them as story consultant for the currently on release feature movie - Winnie the Pooh. Chris Lawson of Lawson Commercial who has been instructed to handle the sale of the property commented, “This is a unique opportunity to acquire a business that promotes a character, loved throughout the World and to increase the different facets of this astonishing enterprise.” For full, detailed particulars, contact Lawson Commercial on 01825 764488 or via e-mail at info@lawsoncommercial.co.uk.
