Business of the week: After Noah, the Upper Street furniture shop your kids will enjoy as much as you do
General manager and part owner of After Noah in Islington, Simon Tarr. Picture: Polly Hancock - Credit: Archant
In a weekly feature, we profile a fascinating company doing business here in Islington. This week, we visit After Noah – the Upper Street shop that does just about everything.
General manager and part owner of After Noah in Islington, Simon Tarr. Picture: Polly Hancock - Credit: Archant
Is After Noah the most versatile business in Islington?
It’s partly a toy shop. Partly a furniture shop. Partly a home accessory shop. And partly a furniture restoration shop.
Husband and wife Matthew and Zoe Candlin opened in Upper Street in 1990. It was originally an antique and contemporary design store.
The aim was to be approachable and friendly. Against, in the words of general manager Simon Tarr, the image of a stuffy man glaring at you from the corner with a copy of the Daily Telegraph.
The philosophy survives to this day – although the shop has evolved many times over.
“I think that’s our strength,” said Simon, who is also part-owner. “It’s perpetually changing.
Most Read
- 1 Inside the esports gaming arena coming to Islington's Upper Street
- 2 Teenage Highbury Fields fatal stabbing victim named by police
- 3 Teenager arrested in Deshuan Tuitt murder investigation
- 4 Landlord who did not provide kitchen for tenant fined £40,000
- 5 'All I could see was the water coming up': Clean-up begins after Holloway flooding
- 6 Polio virus found in Islington sewage
- 7 'Like a tsunami': Burst water main floods Islington street
- 8 'The 214 to Provence: Where catching a London bus can take you'
- 9 Polio: Symptoms, vaccines and what you need to know
- 10 Murder investigation after teenager stabbed in Islington park
“We have a really wide customer base. Some come here for the toys, others for the furniture.
“We are unique in the sense that parents can come here and look at the furniture without the kids driving them crazy – because they are occupied by the wonders of the toy shop.”
