Co-owner of High Wycombe's Ruby Moon on 'hard year' so far

Ruby Moon, which sits at the top of Castle Street in the town, reached the milestone on October 10.

The business has been trading in the town for roughly 30 years after initially starting out as a market stall, before the husband and wife team of Matt and Claire Moon acquired the building which was once the well-known High Wycombe bookshop.

Co-owner Matt Moon inside the shop (Image: NQ)

Many elements of the initial shop remain such as the shelves, but instead of books, incense, crystals and political badges/flags/stickers are displayed instead.

Matt told the Free Press: “The whole shop was not my idea – nothing to do with me.

“It was my wife, Claire.

“She started at a market pitch, and I said I would look after the kids, take them to school, help them with their homework, as I didn’t want to start at 6am in the pouring raining at the market.

“She started it and it wasn’t easy, but she created it, and it was her contact that got us the shop, and it was her that drove the shop forward.”

The shop has gained a reputation as a ‘quirky’ business in the town, attracting customers from areas such as Aylesbury, Henley and Maidenhead.

Their popularity has also seen several customers name their children after the store.

However, despite sitting in the same space for over a quarter of a century, Matt admitted that this year ‘has been hard’, where he encouraged members of the public to use their local stores.

He continued: “It has been hard.

“Retail is hard, hence why we’re using the phrase ‘use us or lose us’.

“It has been a hard year. Turnover dropped off a cliff in the first quarter.

“Prior to that, we got through Christmas OK but it is bad.

“We’re waiting to see what the budget does, but I don’t think anyone has the same amount of cash as we did before.

“You’ll miss us if we aren’t here.”

“But a lot of the time, our customers find us, as we get people from a 20/30 mile radius coming to visit and shop around.

“Sometimes, people can be in here for at least an hour just looking at the stuff we have, and we love having a chat with everyone.

The shop currently has an average score of 4.8/5 from 85 Google Reviews, and are active in the High Wycombe music, with Ruby Moon either playing or promoting bands in the area.

He added: “We sell a safe space – what is good for your head.

This has always been a safe space for those who are exploring their spirituality, sexuality and political affiliations – you can always come in and have a debate with us.”