What?: Nestled in the middle of the nice bit of Walthamstow, Word Store (formerly Word to the Mother) is another one of those shops where you will want to buy literally everything but won’t be able to justify buying any of it for yourself or your kids so you’ll instead buy birthday gifts for your friend’s children and then get jealous (check out the amazing gift edits on their website and you’ll see what I mean). Showcasing “the best in childrenswear and homeware”, this self-styled “family lifestyle destination” mixes international and local brands, with big names including Sticky Lemon (backpacks), Fabelab (soft accessories), Design Letters (kids’ crockery and stationery) and Liewood (adorable nursery bits), and smaller but equally awesome labels Rosie Girl (dolls and textiles), Wild Hearts Wonder (kidswear), Lella (more kidswear) and Om Baby (yet more kidswear), to create one of the best children’s edits I’ve seen.
Word Store has a brilliant website and is also on Trouva, so you don’t actually have to trek to E17 to discover its wares, but the bricks-and-mortar store is so pretty you might want to, and it’s worth it for a browse around Smith and Goat, the design-led plant shop that took up residence in Word’s back room in April, alone. Actually Walthamstow has become a bit of a kids’ destination recently, with the Role2Play role-play cafe opening down the road and topping up the area’s family offer, which already included Lloyd Park’s Grow Wild adventure playground, the God’s Own Junkyard neon wonderland and, of course, the William Morris Gallery. There are no events upcoming at the moment, as far as I can tell, but Word has previously hosted creative storytime and sensory sessions for babies; kids’, freelancers’, pregnancy and postnatal yoga classes; and Q&As for freelance mums, so keep an eye on their Instagram if you’d like to get involved.
Where?: Word Store can be found at 36 Orford Road in Walthamstow Village, just a seven-minute walk from Walthamstow Central.
Price Range: From £6 for books, Meri Meri hairclips and HotTea Mama teabags up to £580 for a Normann Copenhagen pouf or £300 for a Banwood balance bike.
Best Bits: Very, very browsable. I seem to remember it has a really nice toilet but that could easily have been a dream.
Worst Bits: I guess some of the brands are a bit pricy.
Did We Buy?: No.
Would We Come Back?: We’ve been in twice now. There’s almost so much to buy I do that thing where I can’t decide and end up buying nothing.
Babu poses outside Word Store, Walthamstow Village.
bablands.com 