A pretty listed building and former pharmacy is home to fine household goods and apparel shop, Freight. With an emphasis on timeless, classic design and well-crafted goods, most products are made in the U.K. Founded by mother-and-daughter team, Helene & Adele Adamczewski, who both value good design, high quality and functionality in the goods they source for their shop. Their vision for simplicity of design with a focus on quality materials and construction is evident in their beautifully curated shop, Freight. Located in the charming town of Lewes in East Sussex, home to great antique and independent shops, cute little alleyways, historic architecture and pastel-coloured houses.

"We design the products in the shop. It starts with either a junk shop find or a family hand me down item that we love to use on a daily basis."

Photo by Anna Starmer

Why did you chose the name Freight HHG? It was Helenes 50th Birthday, we were having a meeting with our design team to discuss what the brand should be called. Our original idea was to start a shop that would move around in a Heavy goods vehicle. Going from place to place. Helene pipped up with ‘like a Freight train’ and the name just stuck. We may still live out our dreams of being a truck shop, one day!

Who designed the Freight HHG shop? We designed the shop. The new space we inhabit is a space that Helene had once had her original Shop Adamczewski’s in but had rented it out for the past nine years. When we moved back in during the first long lockdown in 2020 we decided we wanted to really make it feel completely different to how it had once been. We built a kitchen space at the far end which seems to have drawn all the attention since we’ve opened. This is a space where we spend the majority of our time so it made sense to us that we could make coffee, our lunch, or bake a loaf of bread whilst working if we fancied. It’s been a fantastic addition to the live work space especially considering we have had to spend a lot of time this year with the doors closed in lockdown. Having it as domestic as possible has been a really lovely thing. There’s a woodburner at the front of the shop too which we can sometimes be found curled up by at the end of a long day with a glass of something delicious and strong! 

What is Freight best known for? There are a few products which strongly define the Freight brand – one of the first items we sourced for production when we launched were Alpaca socks. These have remained a global best seller since we opened and still are. Our range of bone china cups and mugs have also been a part of the collection since day dot and they are still a big part of the chinaware range that we sell both in store and for wholesale. 

What are the “must-have” products in your shop? Brass pepper mill, Alpaca socks, Dry waxed duster coat (All of the team have one and wear it year round), a British cashmere and wool mix jumper Bone China or stoneware breakfast cup (for that first coffee or tea of the day).

Where do you source and make products for Freight? We design the products in the shop. It starts with either a junk shop find or a family hand me down item that we love to use on a daily basis. We then work the design out based on elements we would change, adapt or improve. That is then taken to be sampled in whichever medium it might be from pottery, wood, steel, brass, wool, linen, cotton etc. The goods are predominantly and where possible made in the U.K. We enjoy working with manufacturers that we can go and visit. Talk to easily and build a working relationship. Every item goes through a thorough and long winded process of design, testing, sampling and then tweaking before it is put on the shop floor. 

What makes Freight unique? The shop is entirely unique. We ensure that the products we sell are ones that we have designed and created. They are not bought at a trade fair. They cannot be bought 20 meters down the road in the next shop. That to us makes it as unique as can be. We endeavour to always create items that we feel are missing from the market or that we feel could be made in a better quality, finish or material. Items to make the every day better. 

Who are Freight customers? Our customers span a very broad spectrum. We have a number of very loyal customers who return to us time again because they know what they are buying and the quality they will receive. What’s so lovely is that we have many generations in one family who will come to us for different things. The grandfather who will come to buy his once a year cable knit super soft lambswool jumper, the daughter who comes to buy her mother a set of our bone china mugs and the child who pops in close to Christmas to buy their parents a pair of alpaca socks. We just can’t pin it down to one set audience which is what we truly love. Nothing is predictable when running a shop.

How has the internet impacted your business? Only in a good way I can honestly say. It has meant that we have been able to continue trading during the lockdowns which has been a lifeline for many small business’s. It has also provided us through mediums such as instagram to make connections with other creatives, makers, manufacturers and other interesting business’s around the world who we can talk to and explore ideas with.

Have you adapted your business to the coronavirus pandemic? How? In many ways it has enabled us to be more relaxed with what we do and how we run the business. When something as big as a pandemic takes control you have to in some ways submit and realise that we cannot control everything. So a little more of the ‘be messy’ mentality has had to be allowed in. Less perfectionism and more pragmatism I guess. We have reached out to our audience through newsletters in a much more honest and open way. Not everything can be perfect always and the past year has really exposed that to the world. So we feel it has been a good time to be truly open with our customers and say it how it is a little more. 

Helene & Adele Adamczewski, shopkeepers at Freight

Who inspires you? Often inspiration for us comes from the lesser known individuals who are making things happen. Pushing the boundaries. Taking risks or venturing into an area they do not yet know. We are inspired daily by our customers and their stories of strength, honesty and often total madness. It’s a lot of fun listening to their tales. People who put themselves forward and stand for what they believe and who are making a difference always inspire. I think the Pandemic has also truly shone a light on the more ‘ordinary’ individuals who are doing amazing things. 

What inspires you? We are inspired daily by the change in the light through the seasons. The way in which the sounds around us change in and out of lockdowns, seasonal changes, the way in which the wind rushes through the trees in autumn in comparison to the bleak silence in the winter. In terms of design we are both seduced by simplicity and minimalist settings but there are also those moments in Georgian excess that can also tempt. Historical pieces of furniture or of a piece of ironstone can easily get us excited. The simpler the better we always stand by. 

Before I was a shopkeeper, I…. Adele : I trained in architecture. I worked in an office. I decided that lifestyle wasn’t for me and that I would prefer to work on smaller product design projects which I could put into action and create within my own limits. This has been one of the most challenging yet most interesting sides of running a shop to date.  Helene:  We moved to a house in Lewes which had an old shop front space. I had always said there were three things I would never do – have kids (Whoops), get married or work in a shop! I failed at the first two so why not the third . . . The rest as they say is history. 

Did you have prior retail experience? Helene had had a shop previously. Adele had grown up with the shop as a part of her home. 

Your favourite thing about owning an independent shop? I think it’s the community and appreciation that really shops like ours are now starting to get. People are really realising the importance of having independent shops. Not just mainstream corporate institutions. The recognition that we are in fact here to offer something different and unique is really gratifying. 

Your advice for anyone wanting to open a shop? Truly work out why you believe it’s the right job for you. It’s full time. It’s not something that you can set up and then pass on to someone else to run. You have to be passionate and dedicated to it. If you’re in it for financial gain with minimal input then it’s probably not the right thing to do. You have to grow slightly thick skin to the passing comments and let them roll off. If you really have a passion for the area of retail you want to go into that should always shine through. 

What are your favourite local independent businesses? We both openly admit that we are not really shoppers! We do not spend a free afternoon browsing the local shops. But we are avid foodies and my favourite spot to go and perch on work from home day is my local Brighton cafe Marmalade in Kemptown. A buzzing hive of local activity and the most delicious quiche with more cream than I want to know is in it. Our local veg stall geezers who keep us in an abundance of seasonal fruit and veg 

What are your five favourite shops? La Fromagerie , Marylebone;  David Mellor , Sloane Square;  Aesop ;  Kempton Antiques Fair , not really a shop but a great morning of rifling for treasure; and  Magazine Brighton – for hours of browsing and the smell of print.

"It has made us realise that the direction we were always heading in was the right one. Not to sprint but to pace our way through and to take each day as a new lesson learnt. Not to rush to be the best or to have a huge empire. But to grow slowly and manageably. We do not want to be in charge of a huge empire. We just want to have a business which holds it key values at heart – provenance, durability and functionality. Something we have always stuck by throughout the growth of the business. Ensuring that we do not waiver from our original plan. To sell goods which are completely useful and that will last the test of time. Until you drop that bone china cup in the sink and it shatters – in which case you can rely on us at Freight that you can get an exact same replacement for that mug even if you bought it five years ago. Once an item in the collection has our customers seal of approval it stays in the collection."