The Story of Sunrise
30 or so years ago, Sunrise began when my husband set up a stall selling Moroccan lanterns, rugs and ceramics on Bury St Edmunds market. Some of his early purchase documents remain in the Sunrise archives, hand-written order sheets for conservative quantities of stock at long-forgotten prices. Today, Sunrise continues to trade with many of these original suppliers and is proud to have journeyed so far with these extraordinary colleagues, as well as meeting new, like-minded importers, designers & entrepreneurs along the way.
During the global coronavirus pandemic, there was been plenty of time to reflect on these relationships, to deepen the connection with our supply chains and to take stock of the global nature of our business and its impact on communities across the world. We received welfare reports from India, Thailand, Peru and Guatemala via our friends at Siesta, Gringo, Shared Earth and Emma’s Emporium. Feedback came from the Nepalese villages where our Lily & Me is manufactured, and now our personal commitment to buying from small independent suppliers of silver jewellery and fair trade goods has never been stronger.
Over the years Sunrise has changed a lot, ebbing and flowing with the tides of fashion, culture and trading patterns. When I joined the company about 20 years ago, Sunrise was doing a roaring trade in gothic clothing, clubwear (remember the fluffy boot covers?), Stargazer hair dye (we still stock it), New Rock and Buffalo boots, day-glo, neon, UV and all the paraphernalia associated with the dance scene at the time. Our transactional website was also operational back then and, because we really were “ahead of the game”, it was surprisingly successful despite our amateur in-house photography and a lack of any communication interface between our stock system and the website (seems like the dark ages but loads of fun!). We were one of the original stockists of Bench Clothing, which was such a new and iconic style at the time. We sold lots of it worldwide before Bench even had its own website! Other big brands during that era for us were Billabong, Mambo, Hooch to name just a few.
When the brand bubble began to burst for us, it was time for Sunrise to evolve again. We downsized from three stores and a warehouse to the single, original store in Bury St Edmunds where we continue to thrive as part of this fabulous community of independent stops and services. By the way, the BEST Scotch eggs can be purchased fresh, hot and crispy from Edis of Ely butchers opposite us in St Johns Street!
Today our brand offering is curated to the needs of our customers, taking great care to honour our trading relationships and to remain loyal to suppliers along the way. We are proud to stock Carhartt American workwear, ideal for the local population of tree surgeons, labourers and anyone wanting durable, well-made men’s clothing for both work and leisure. Skate brands Element, Santa Cruz and DC Shoes & Apparel provide great quality graphic t-shirts, trainers and accessories, and our menswear collection is completed with the addition of Joe Browns and fair trade offerings from Gringo and Siesta.
Hippy trousers, cosy hoodies, tie dye t-shirts, festival dresses and boho tops are catered for on both our men’s and women’s floors with Gringo, Siesta and Emma’s Emporium. The sourcing and manufacturing provenance of these companies is via fair trade and ethical practices, and we feel closer to these importers and their overseas suppliers than ever before as we know first hand how the benefits of this trade feeds families and communities at a grass roots level.
Even our “branded” womenswear has great provenance. Lily & Me has high ethical and fair trade standards, making use of organic fabrics & recycled fibes, paying close attention to the families and factories where the garments are designed and made, here in the UK as well as India and Nepal. We have enjoyed strong relationships with the Lily & Me team for more years than we care to count!
More recently we have returned our attention to the young Goths out there and once more have a fabulous collection of dresses, skirts, tops, trousers and accessories from Banned Apparel and Innocent Clothing. We also stock Pamela Mann for gothic inspired tights, socks and gloves, alongside an extensive collection of chokers, wristbands, chains and belts by Bullet 69. Our alternative style even includes enamel pin badges, iron on patches and gothic jewellery from Extreme Largeness.
And then of course there are our gifts and homewares! “It’s like an Aladdin’s Cave” is something we hear almost daily, alongside other fabulous customer comments about how “different” we are, how much there is to see, and how difficult it can be to leave! We stock the fantastic Alchemy gothic pewter jewellery; great value silver, semi-precious stone pendants, chains, bracelets and earrings sourced by old friends at Poco Loco; rocks, minerals and tumblestones; tarot and oracle card decks; wall hangings and bedpreads; salt lamps; photo frames; rainbow crockery and Polish pottery; dragons and fairies; greetings cards and so, so much more! Our incense offering of joss sticks, cones and resins is second to none, with an extensive choice of varieties from Satya, Auroshika, Starchild Glastonbury, Organic Goodness and more. My personal passion for incense has even spilled over into workshops where the delights of raw resins can be explored and personal incense blends concocted! You can read more about Incense and how to burn.
And so here we are today, a thriving independent business with a small team of incredible staff (aka “family”) who share our passion for doing things a little differently, each bringing their own unique energy and interests to our happy little shop! If you’re visiting East Anglia please come see for yourself – there’s always a vibrant and welcoming groove going on at Sunrise – and we smell great too!
Bury St Edmunds is a pretty little market town, slap bang in the middle of East Anglia. It's great for shopping and days out with narrow streets formed by the historic grid. The Abbey ruins, the Buttermarket and Corn Exchange are all remnants of Bury St Edmunds' former glory as a centre for trade in East Anglia.
Sunrise Direct
An independent shop in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
83 St John's Street
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP33 1SQ
UK
Phone: 01284 755551 Email: enquiries@sunrisedirect.co.uk