Designist, a toy shop for grown-ups

WHAT little girl doesn’t love to play shop? For me it was a favourite game after Christmas to set up my store with empty chocolate boxes and biscuit tins, and left over wrapping paper.

Now, as an adult, I wouldn’t mind another retail stint, having met Jenny Flynn and Anne Lynott, co-owners of design boutique and e-shop Designist.

These two brave women opened their doors on Dublin’s Georges Street in November 2010, just as many design shops, which had popped up during the boom years, were shutting down, and the few remaining were on the edge of a rapidly eroding retail cliff. To add to it, thick snow lay on the ground for weeks on end. Were they absolutely bonkers?