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Exmoor Teddy Bears is a well established family run business based in Minehead, West Somerset. It first appeared in Dunster
(a medieval village two miles from Minehead) in 1993 operating out of the lovely Spears Cross Hotel. After establishing
itself as a quality business appealing to collectors, the time was right to move into new premises and that was achieved a
couple of years later with a move to a shop unit on The Steep in Dunster. Here the business was to flourish not only with
the support of many collectors but also by offering high quality plush toys purchased by many visitors to the area. A strong
local trade was also appearing as the business became very well known in the area; in addition mail order was also becoming
a very important part of the success story. This connection with Dunster was to continue until 2006 when the Dunster store
closed for good and all business was transferred into the Minehead store that had been opened in 2004. The Minehead store
offered much more space and a fantastic location on the main avenue. Over the years the business has also had stores in
Exeter and Bridgwater (each year a bear is produced to support the Bridgwater Carnival charities). For a three year spell
the business was a limited company (The Exmoor Teddy Bear Co Ltd) however in late 2006 it changed again to its original
status with one fabulous store in Minehead and a fully secure website trading as Exmoor Teddy Bears.
The ownership of the business has only ever changed once and the present owner Martin Kane has been with the business
since 2003 when it was purchased by him from the original owner who started it all in 1993. Martin's wife, Elizabeth, has
also returned to the business after a six month absence due to maternity leave in early 2007. Martin and Elizabeth Kane now
live in Minehead and have a lovely daughter, Theoni.
Martin comments, our love of this business is total, it is a wonderful environment where we get to meet lots of lovely people
and also the most fabulous teddy bears and soft toys. We pride ourselves on quality and only stock recognised brands that are
renowned for being leaders in their field. Our ranges include Steiff (club store status), Ty, Me to You, Hermann Teddy
Original (club store status), Bad Taste Bears, Rainbow Designs, Keel Toys, Russ Berrie, Charlie Bears, Local artist bears
and many others. Minehead is a fantastic place which gives us a great quality of life as a family and to have a successful
business on the main avenue is a great bonus. The fact that the business sells Teddy Bears is just amazing since we love
every minute of it especially as we are collectors ourselves. We love to put our enthusiasm both for Minehead and teddy
bears into the business and always strive to 'delight' our lovely and much valued customers. We have many customers who
come to us time and time again as well as our Gold Club members who have swollen in
numbers massively over the years to become a terrific support to us. Of course we love to meet new people as well, the shop
gives us the chance to meet people from all over the world who come to visit Minehead and pop in to see us.
If you are reading this then you have visited our website and we sincerely thank you for clicking on exmoorteddybears.com.
Whether you choose to buy or not the fact you have come across our lovely business makes us grateful. I hope this page gives
you some background to the history and passion that lives within the business that is Exmoor Teddy Bears.
Martin & Liz Kane
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