Antiques Emporium Griffin Mill

There are some fabulous items in here, well worth a visit, and the staff could not be more helpful.

Cannot recommend this shop enough! Lovely owner and staff, great items, such a fun experience.

Excellent selection of stuff. Not too expensive either. Be prepared to undertake your own restoration work though for a lot of the furniture pieces.

(For context, 1st ever visit)

I arrived on a Saturday around 30 minutes after opening time, myself along with other customers were greeted with a large green van blocking the entire entryway into the store. People had to squeeze by and others simply turned around and left straight away.

After gaining entry I was disappointed to discover that large amounts of furniture and antiques were left outside in lean to sheds, not really the most enticing way of displaying your wares, tables and other items of furniture were noticeably weathered and damaged from their time outside. furthermore if any of them did catch my eye there was no way to get to them as everything was piled on top of each other so tightly that I was concerned I may trip and hurt myself.

Entering the store, I was not entirely sure what to expect, I was not after anything particular that day but hoped to gain inspiration.

Each section was styled differently with a large variety of wares but overall it felt very messy, cramped and disorganised, I did not know who to approach to ask questions and was surprised to see that dogs were allowed into the building, doesn’t really help trying to walk around already tight areas really does it? (No I’m not taking about assistance dogs by the way, just normal dogs!). Lots of items were simply on the floor and didn’t really give off good quality or any form of care.

I walked up and down the store twice, I felt a lot of items were overpriced for what they were.

I decided that after approximately 10-15 minutes it was now a good time to depart, unfortunately I could not easily as the lovely green van, empty and doors wide open was still blocking the only way in and out with mere inches of space either side. Customers were clearly very annoyed by now and with a tight squeeze through I was finally free of the worst antiques shop I have visited.

I would like to take this time to explain that I do not enjoy writing negative reviews, I do feel however that it is important to outline my experience as a customer so others can make an informed decision. I have written a number of reviews both positive and negative through google. Please take a look, It is up to you to decide how relevant my words are.

For me, there are other antique places in Stroud that I will be spending my time and money on. I won’t name names

Edit:
Reply to owners comment,
Nice professional response! NOT. You do know everyone can see that right! Really great image you are paining yourself in…

The emporium never fails to have an exciting array of pieces from all over the world. Friendly and informative staff, and items are well priced.
I always visit when I'm in the area and have bought several items over the years.
I can't understand why a negative review before, the delight of a place like this is having a really good look around.
I will be back soon.

Having moved house and needing various items of furniture I managed to find a bed, desk, armchair, sofa, above mantelpiece mirror, blanket box and table and chairs here over the course of a few visits, all at very reasonable prices indeed. Anyone who thinks the stock is expensive should realise they are probably looking at either a very genuine antique item, or a very desirable piece of hand-crafted contemporary design. I drop in whenever I'm passing as the stock changes regularly. The staff are helpful to the genuine customer but one has to remember that this isn't John Lewis, nor is it a conventional antique shop, so expect lively banter rather than deference, I wouldn't have it any other way.

This place is a wonderful and welcoming home of treasures. Everytime I visit I find something fantastic and the staff always take the time to explain the history of the items and put extremely generous prices on them. You can tell that antiques are their passion and everything is displayed beautifully, with new discoveries coming in all the time. The staff helpfully discuss and measure the items that I enquire about, as well as arrange delivery. I would recommend that everyone visits and goes to their instagram too (I often get inspired and spot things that I love on there!). I am a regular customer and my home is as lovely as it is mostly due to the treasures of this place!

Quirky with some great deals to be had, though sometimes pricing is on the high side.
To be entirely fair, in my opriginal review I had given a snap review based on what was then a very recent visit where the pricing was high for everything I had looked at and the person I met there on this visit was less than helpful on that occassion.
For the sake of balance, I have bought many pieces from here and have mostly been happy and found the dealers to be helpful.
So I am glad Griffin responded to my review as I now have the chance to give what is a fairer review.
Definitely worth a visit.