The other direction

The Friday Box.

A weekly drop of British character goods, shipped to Taiwan. Everything else on this site comes into Britain; this is the shelf going out, and it is sold in Chinese because that is who it is for.

What it is

The British shelf, on a Taiwanese doorstep, every Friday.

British character retail is very good and it travels very badly. The plush houses, the UK-exclusive character lines, the design stationery, the sweets in tins that look like they were made in 1954 - almost none of it reaches a shelf in Taipei.

The Friday Box is that shelf, edited down to one weekly drop: a short list, a fixed day, and every piece on it named - the house that makes it, where it is from, and what it actually is.

Alexia chooses it, the same way she chooses what comes the other way.

The drop

What is in it, who it is for, when it lands.

  1. Every Friday

    A new drop

    One list, published on the Taiwan door, and one box on its way when it closes. A different set of British pieces each week rather than a permanent catalogue.

  2. What is in it

    British character goods

    Plush from the British houses that never reach a Taiwanese shelf, UK-exclusive character lines, design stationery and the biscuit-tin end of the British sweet aisle.

  3. Who it is for

    Buyers in Taiwan

    Collectors who want the British shelf without a personal shopper standing between them and it. Sold in Traditional Chinese, priced in NT$.

  4. On arrival

    Collected locally

    Handover through Taiwan’s convenience-store collection network, which is how that market actually prefers to receive a parcel.

Where to buy it

The Friday Box is sold on the Taiwan door, in Traditional Chinese and in NT$. This page is the English summary of it; the drop itself, the prices and the week's list are over there.

The plush bear on a bench under platform lights.

Why it exists

One house, two shelves.

Crazy Cherry sells across four markets, and the pieces worth having move in every direction at once. Japanese and Taiwanese character goods are the shelf Britain has never had. British plush and character lines are the shelf Taiwan has never had. The Friday Box is the second half of that sentence.

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