The Mary Sumner Shop

This shop is close to my work, and sells cards, small gift items, gift wrap and so on. It’s quite unexpected for the location, which is otherwise dominated by the extraordinarily expensive housing and the political offices around Smith Square.
I buy quite a lot of cards in here, and the odd present: they specialise in feminine gifts — think scented candles, posh bath salts and foams, and nice moisturising cream in floral scents: basically anything that could be sold in pretty pastel packaging with ribbons on it. They also sell children’s items, mostly aimed at young children (and, as Brian C says, very cute hand puppets). Spot on for grannies buying presents for grandchildren, in fact.
Their own range of Mothers’ Union cards are very pretty and offer good value.

The Mary Sumner shop, which is on the corner of the Mother’s Union, is an absolute treasure trove. Firstly, they have a fantastic card collection in the back (up the steps) which changes seasonally (as you might expect). My mother always remarks how nice the cards are that I get her for her birthday — and that’s because I get them from this shop. They’re just delightful.
But that is just one small element of the store, because they also do a range of gifts, with the highlight being the array of really cool presents for children. It’s a good job I don’t have kids or else I’d end up spending half my salary in here — probably just on puppets. I love those puppets.
They have a nice range of jewellery and at Christmas they get a range nice seasonal selection of presents in as well. You can lose an hour in here just browsing, and you never know what you might find each time. Plus it’s part of the Mother’s Union, so the proceeds are going to a good cause as well.