Darlington’s Cheese and Wine Shop moving to Skinnergate

The Cheese and Wine Shop, which is run by Caroline Elliot and her husband Dean, will move from Clark’s Yard to Skinnergate later this year.

The shop, which was opened by Terry Farr in 1999 has had a number of different owners, with Caroline and her husband running it for the last 16 months.

Builders are carrying out work at the new venue on Skinnergate, which used to be Skinnergate News, next to Leggs.

While Caroline admitted the move will be emotional, she explained why it needs to happen.

Work has started on the new location of The Cheese and Wine Shop on Skinnergate (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

She said: “Clark’s Yard is a great venue, and we love all the traders here. They are good friends as well; they’ve been really helpful.

“But if this business is going to survive, it needs to go to the next level, and we’ve got to be realistic about what retail is now.

“With a bigger venue we can go online and sell local products online too. We can also offer wine by the glass, cheeseboards and lots of other things with it as well which is going to support the business in the future.”

The Cheese and Wine Shop has been on Clark’s Yard for 27 years (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

She also spoke of her excitement too.

Caroline said: “We will have the space to store stuff properly, display products properly and give the shop the presence it deserves. I think it will be fantastic.”

Despite the move to a bigger space, the owner has said it will still keep its “intimate” feel.

Work has started on the new location of The Cheese and Wine Shop on Skinnergate (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

“Having a bigger venue means we can have more people on each cheese and wine tasting, but we also have smaller rooms in there as well, so we will still keep that intimate feel,” she said.

“It also means we can open up for private events. We have a book club going in the shop at the moment.

“It’s very tight with 16 people in here, so we can get more people to book club. We can open up for more clubs on an evening as well and do more social things for the community.”

The Cheese & Wine Shop was first opened by Terry Farr in 1999 (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

When Caroline and Dean took over the running of the business, they said their first thought was how to grow the business.

They changed the opening hours and said after their second Christmas, they knew it was time.

Work has started on the new location of The Cheese and Wine Shop on Skinnergate (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

“The queues at the door at Christmas were unbelievable,” Caroline explained.

“We can offer a lot more to Darlington by having a bigger shop. We have probably been thinking about it for the last six to eight months, but we’ve been having serious discussions since January and just wanted to find the right venue.

“We wanted something that wasn’t too far away from the shop and being on Skinnergate we are in a bigger footfall area. I think it’s going to be a great move for us.”