Barnard Castle Independents - Zara Countrywear (From Living Northeast)

Barnard Castle Independents - Zara Countrywear

2:02pm Monday 16th August 2010 in

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IT was a love of all things horsey that led 39-year-old Donna Dobson to open Zara Countrywear. Ironically, sales are going so well, she has little time now to ride.

“Things are going really well,” says Donna. “Right from being a little girl, it was my dream to open a shop selling horsey gear. I used to spend hours in the tack shop over the road.”

But Zara – named after Donna’s two-and-a-half year old daughter – isn’t just for horsey types. Countrywear is big in the city now and all sorts, from ladies who lunch to busy farmers’ wives, beat a track to her door. “With last winter being so bad, I got a lot of ladies in who wanted to be warm, but also wanted to look nice,” says Donna.

The shop stocks Toggi, Harry Hall, Chukka, Lazy Jacks and Alice Collins, among other labels, and Hunter wellies will be making an appearance soon.

“They’ve been a nightmare to get hold of. They’re so fashionable that Harrods and Fenwick and big stores were putting in huge orders,” says Donna.

Some of the most unusual items in the shop are the Joey D bags. “He’s huge in New York,” says Donna. The quirky bags are made from recycled jackets, curtains, upholstery materials, cartridges and kit bags. Each one is unique.

Donna also sells more horsey items, such as bits and other tack, but not everything is in the shop. She also sells on her website, which is “ticking over nicely”.

Busy Donna also does the books for the other family business, plant hire, as well as looking after Zara, who has inherited her mum’s love of horses. “There is war on if I don’t let her ride down to the field,” says Donna.

■ 20 Market Place. Tel: 01833-630922