Here are 19 women-owned businesses in Lancaster you need to visit

In light of International Women’s Day

2 years ago | UPDATED 2 years ago

Yesterday was International Women’s’ Day, a day to celebrate incredible women in society. Therefore, in light of this momentous day, we have compiled a list of the women-owned businesses in Lancaster that you should support.

King Street Canopy – Emma

Owned by the brilliant Emma, King Street Canopy is opposite the Assembly Rooms. It hosts a huge range of plants for everyone’s needs. If you have a green thumb, the wonderful staff here are happy to help you find the greenery of your dreams (and plant caring ability).

The Herbarium – Lucy

A vegan café offering an intimate atmosphere, hearty mains, and cracking drinks. It’s not only home to a restaurant, but it also has a yoga studio, an art studio, a treatment room, film production company and a tattoo removal studio. It’s a hub for community, wellness, and art, developed by one heck of a woman.

The Whale Tail – Trisha Rawlinson

This little café is run by a woman who has been a business owner for over 30 years. Providing vegan and vegetarian meals for over 25 years, the friendly atmosphere gives customers the setting to enjoy their delicious dishes that are made with seasonal local produce, fair trade and organic ingredients being used where possible.

Aurora Tattoo – Emma Kierzek

This place can be tricky to find, as it’s brilliantly enclosed to the right of Sultan of Lancaster in town. Being the longest-running tattoo studio in Lancaster, it is home to the amazing Emma Kierzek and her team of passionate tattoo artists, they pride themselves on creating reliable artwork in several styles including Traditional and Floral. They have won an accolade of awards, including 2010 Winner of the UK Industry Award of best UK Female Tattooist, this is a great female-owned business to visit.

Secret Bistro – Bernie

From its humble beginnings in a cosy room above The Palatine, Morecambe, The Secret Bistro continues its story in Lancaster, hosting the best of Modern British/European Fusion within a quirky interior and an eclectic soundtrack to feed the most budding of gastro-audiophiles.

Annabel’s Skin & Beauty – Annabel

A lovely shop a few doors down from Brew that mixes aesthetically pleasing treatments with high-quality beauty treatments. From classic French manicures to injections done by highly skilled professionals, it’s easy to see why people keep returning for good quality work.

Baked by Brew

This lovely made to order business is a part of the famous Brew coffee shop. A Lancaster favourite that offers fresh bakes in both Brew itself (or straight to your door if you cannot wait).

Areteria – Jane, Leah, Jen, and Louise

Housed in a restored 1800s building, you can discover a shopping experience that offers a personal touch. Arteria offers customers innovative yet stylish products that have an emphasis on quality and value. Offering a handpicked collection of truly uniquely crafted pieces, you can commission and personalise a gift to your bespoke requirements.

Penny Street Collectibles

A small shop based in town, Penny Street Collectibles combines contemporary and vintage influences to create a quirky and charismatic harmony to help people find unique pieces they will never tire of.

Ethel and Em Shop – Melanie

Located in New Street, Ethel & Em is a yarn shop (as well as a virtual one for online shoppers out there) named after two of the greatest people in Melanie’s life, it provides fellow yarn lovers a place to get their crochet, knitting, weaving, or felting needs met.

The Borough – Hannah

A bustling pub, restaurant and hotel spread out over three floors of a huge Georgian townhouse, The Borough has won a variety of prestigious awards over the past nine years, including best pub in Lancaster by Lancaster Guardian. It offers great customer service with a hotel that provides luxury en-suites (one even has a hot tub).

Rene’s Fashion – Tiffany & Co

Established in 1955, while Churchill was still in office, Renes is a designer ladies clothing shop that sells a wide range of clothing and fashion accessories found globally. Ask any local girl and you can guarantee Renes is where they bought their wedding dress or first teen outfit. It was so popular during Sale times that a queue formed around the shop before opening time.

Holm Coffee – Chole

A lovely Scandi coffee shop right next to Filbert’s Bakery, Holm gives you great coffee surrounded by Moomin and tasty desserts.

The Exchange, Lancaster – Anna

The Exchange Lancaster is a designer clothing agency. With a shop packed with pre-loved designer clothing, accessories, shoes and bags of the highest quality, The Exchange only stock items that have been lovingly looked after and cherished.

KokoBento – Evelyn

KokoBento is a fresh, trendy and healthy food joint that specialises in Hawaiian and Japanese food. Serving modern dishes such as poke to a selection of Japanese curries, all ingredients are fresh to ensure you are getting the most nutrients per bite.

Relic Plastic – Kiki

As the number of plastic-free businesses and lifestyles skyrockets, you may ask yourself why a shop would be selling plastic products. However, the beauty of these objects is that they are made of plastic that would otherwise be considered waste.

All products at Relic Plastic are handmade in their recycled plastic foundry, with local community projects and businesses collecting or contributing their plastic waste in order to save it from the landfill.

Filbert’s Bakery – Fil, Felicity and Filbert

Fil is the face behind this iconic bakery. After noticing that she and her husband, Joe, couldn’t find real bread like the beautiful, crusty loaves they ate from Borough Market in London, she became obsessed by trying to recreate artisan bread for the people of Lancaster. After a few investors and bread lovers helped make their store on King Street, they’ve gone on to be the Winners of the Baker of The Year Award at the Farm Shop & Deli Awards 2018.

Northern Yarn – Kate

Kate is a knitting aficionado, and was not afraid to show it when she opened her shop in 2016. Focusing on local farms and producers for the Lancastrian flocks, she sells products to suit all budgets. When you buy from Northern Yarn, you are supporting an independent business, as well as fairs, small mills and makers while helping to promote British Wool – a sustainable and bioderadable product.

Yoga Dragon Studio – Nicki

The Lancaster Yoga Dragon Studio is a beautiful and bespoke fully equipped Yoga studio in the heart of Historic Lancaster. Offering a diverse range of classes, workshops and training, the studio will provide you with a peaceful, calm and tranquil setting in which you can escape from the daily demands of life. A place just for you, a space to breathe to move, relax and restore.