Claire, 46, and her brother Xander, 42, who were both secondary school teachers, say they are fulfilling a lifelong ambition to run their own shop by opening ‘Sherlock Holmes: York Imaginarium’, in Low Petergate.
The decision to set up a shop came after the siblings lost their mother during a 10th birthday party for Xander’s son.
SUGGESTED READING:
Xander said: “Growing up, our mum always used to tell us stories and talk fondly about our grandma who had a shop. Our family weren’t rich, so these stories were always part of our lives and something we’d talk about.
“Then, at my son’s birthday party in 2019, I was talking to my mum and noticed something was wrong with the way she was eating. I called an ambulance but within 10 minutes, she was gone.”
He continued: “We thought if we don’t do it now, then we won’t. We’ve got a vision of something that we need to do, and we need to be together doing something.”
Following the death of their mother, Claire moved to York to be closer to her brother and the two made plans to find a shop premises of their own.
Now, just weeks on from their opening, the pair say customers are enjoying the atmosphere and even looking at buying products that were intended as décor – something that Xander hopes could evolve with their business.
The shop itself is decked out in a deep purple and is themed around the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes.
The brother and sister had always hoped to have a Sherlock Holmes themed shop before they looked into the building.
But they believe it is possible that Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may have visited the site of the shop during trips to Yorkshire to see his mother in Ingleton.
Xander said: “What I really wanted to do is bring it back to its original 15th century roots. Our landlords have been fab in letting us put our own touch on the building.”
The siblings also suspect the house may have played host to one of York’s biggest celebrities – Guy Fawkes, whose father, they say, was named executor in the will of one-time owner Mayor Robert Hall.
And with this much history, the duo say there may be other supernatural tenants inhabiting the property – with the sound of men’s laughter coming up from the basement and ghost hunters clamouring to conduct their own seances inside.
Sherlock Holmes is currently open daily from 10am-5pm with Claire and Xander also hoping to offer coffee and ice cream in due course.
The shop can be found on Tiktok as @sherlockholmesyork or Instagram as @sherlockholmesyorkimaginarium.
