Farrants has been a familiar sight in Cobham, Surrey since 1896 when it was a small rural village. We supplied the villagers from our small shop with everyday goods such as newspapers, confectionery, tobacco and stationery. As the village slowly grew, we expanded our range to meet increased customer expectations and by 1912 we had secured new premises at 15 High Street. In 1938, our increasing range encouraged us to expand into next door, number 17.
In the 1970’s Cobham became widely known as a leafy stock broker town and increased in size dramatically bringing in prosperity hitherto unknown. Over the following 3 decades, our newly affluent clientele led to us expanding into a chain of six shops. Our flagship newsagents with a small walk-in humidor, a toy shop, a dedicated stationers, two convenience stores and a computer shop.
In 2013 we set wheels in motion for our most ambitious project yet: to open Cobham’s first department store. Comprised of the best parts of all of our shops but in one premises, it would offer the most exceptional shopping experience in Cobham. Over the years our customers were expecting a finer selection of Havanas which we were unable to previously offer due to the limited space available. We concluded that we had to go above and beyond the precedent we had set and the concept of our tobacco room was born.
We designed the tobacco room to have areas of interest other than the products on offer. We included empty cigar boxes and other historical items in the design to encourage natural dialogue and engage with our customers. This influenced the design process of the rest of the store, which is decorated with unique flourishes that celebrate both our history and special connection to Cobham.
We proudly opened the doors to our new store in November 2015 – a little late and a little over budget! The jewel in our crown is the self-contained tobacco room and gold standard walk-in humidor which contains the finest selection of cigars from Havanas to Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Building on our success and looking to the future we are in the early stages of conceptualising a sampling lounge for our cigar customers and a COSA with artisan coffee facilities. These services will provide a memorable and relaxing experience that will encourage return visits and are just some of the ways we plan to continue serving Cobham with the very best shopping experience.
