Stockist Spotlight: Marcia May, Stamford

We recently paid a visit to Marcia May, one of Salt-Water’s longest standing independent stockists based in the beautiful historic market town of Stamford, Lincolnshire.

Voted by the Sunday Times as one of the best places to live in the UK, we can see why. Nestled in the Lincolnshire countryside, Stamford is lined with cobbled streets where 18^th and 19^th century architecture host an array of independent boutiques – including Marcia May. Split across a double frontage, you will find the cutest array of kids wear, shoes, toys and gifts in the cloud painted kids boutique. Next door is home to a variety of quality Men’s and Women’s footwear and accessories, including a colourful selection of Salt-Water Sandals.

We had the pleasure of chatting with owner, Samantha. Our conversation covered some of Stamford’s best eateries, the wide variety of beautiful stock Marcia May has to offer, and of course – Salt-Water Sandals.

SWS: Samantha, tell us a bit about Marcia May?

Samantha: With a background in retail, I opened Marcia May in 2010. After being made redundant and finding myself a single parent, I decided to use the redundancy pay to open Marcia May – named after my children, Marcia and Orla May. 

SWS: How long have you stocked Salt-Water Sandals? 

Samantha: We were one of the first independent boutiques to stock Salt-Waters, it was way back – at least 10 years ago now! Our customer base is predominantly women over 30, looking for well-made sandals for their kids, or themselves – quality and fit are really important to our customers.

SWS: What is your favourite style of Salt-Water sandals and how do you like to style them?

Samantha: The Cobalt Blue Boardwalk’s have got to be my favourite with the super comfy spongy sole. I’d wear mine with a pair of cropped jeans and striped t-shirt.

SWS: Where is your favourite place in Stamford to go for a walk in your Salt-Waters?

Samantha: It’s got to be the Meadows, you can walk for miles following the River Welland from the town meadows into the second and third, it’s a great dog walking spot for Toffee!

SWS: Where’s your favourite place to go for food in Stamford?

Samantha: I love going for brunch in Fika, as a Coeliac they have a great selection of Gluten-Free options and the coffee is amazing!

SWS: Lastly, Stamford has been voted the best place to live multiple years in a row – are there any hidden gems we need to know about?

Samantha: I think the fact you can walk from the centre of town to a stately home in about 10 minutes is really rare – I’d definitely recommend a visit to Burghley House while you’re visiting, it’s been the set of many films and TV shows including The Crown.

Head over to our Instagram to see our whistle-stop tour of the historic Stamford, Marcia May’s beautiful curation of Kids and Women’s wear and Samantha’s local recommendations – we’re off to live our Bridgerton fantasy at Burghley House!