Closing a Business - and Re-Opening!

September 13, 2022

I'm delighted to say that West & Walker, formerly West by Design, is back!

I'm Kim, the creator and designer behind West & Walker, and I remember the moment I decided to close my first wallpaper business in 2020. Strangely, it was at a new designers convention in London where I was exhibiting. I had received some great feedback, had stood on stage and answered questions as part of a panel - and even made a few sales! I stood there later on at my stand, behind my little podium, and wrote down in my notebook the reasons why I wasn't a failure, why it had run its course, what I had learned and why this was the right decision to make. It felt like a huge relief.

When I first started my wallpaper business in 2017, I was so passionate. I could see the end-goal - a beautifully appointed shop with bespoke cabinets where I'd sell my designs, and on Friday I'd have cream cakes with my staff (we all need a dream, right?). Armed with ideas and a vision, I met with a business start-up company, who were incredibly empowering, wrote my business plan, secured my finance and set off, not really having a clue what I was doing. Everything I know, I learned as I went, usually with more mistakes than successes!

At the time, digital print was seeing shorter minimum order quantities than rotary printing, but they were still high, meaning I had to buy bigger quantities of stock than I wanted to, with outlay into the thousands and very little cashflow. This made things nearly impossible when one design ran out of stock but a customer wanted one roll. This was also the case for developing new designs - I had ideas coming out of my ears, but with each design and new colourway came a few thousand pound. It just wasn't sustainable.

I'm thrilled to say that the print industry has now moved on, making things much more viable for small businesses like West & Walker. I had a huge outpouring of love and kind words when I first decided to close. Much has happened since - I'm now married, and Mum to my gorgeous little baby girl, Esme. She's a dream - and I'd like to show her in the future how much can be achieved with motivation, creativity and a little bravery.

I'm starting off (very) slowly, but with a baby, a full time job, a husband and a home, I'm just pleased to be moving forward again!