Our Story
Willy Banjo — Est. 1993
Legendary. In a dodgy backstreet.
That’s usually how I explain it.
If I say “shop,” people think something normal. It isn’t.
If I say “festival trader,” that’s a whole different conversation.
So — legendary. Dodgy backstreet.
That covers it.
Before All This
I was always out and about. Bikes, music, people — just moving.
Got into the rave scene young. Different music, different crowds — all sorts of characters. I liked that mix. You’d meet people from completely different worlds, all in the same place, all there for the same reason.
Things went sideways for a few years after I was sixteen. Proper chaos.
By my early twenties something clicked — I knew I had to do something different.
I was working a rough job in a fibreglass factory at the time. Hard work, long days, and you could see what staying there long-term did to people.
One bloke said to me:
“What are you doing here? You’ve still got a choice. Go and live your life.”
That stuck.
So I left.
The Turning Point
Before I packed it in, me and a mate did a road trip across Europe.
No real plan — just driving. France, Germany, everywhere in between. Music on full, no sleep, just going.
That trip did something.
Gave me a bit of perspective. Made me realise I didn’t want a normal path.
When I got back, I knew I wasn’t going back to that factory life.
The Name
The name came from a nursery rhyme.
One of those weird little things that sticks in your head from being a kid.
I remember thinking — that’s it. That’s the name.
Told my mates we were going to be legendary.
They laughed. Said you can’t be legendary before you’ve even started.
Exactly.
That was the point.
Starting Out
- Markets.
Candles, incense, bits and pieces — whatever we could get hold of.
Travelling around, setting up stalls, figuring it out as we went.
Borrowed cars. Broken gearboxes. Long days.
We learned fast — what people actually wanted, what sold, what didn’t.
No plan. Just building it bit by bit.
Finding the Shop
Ended up in Preston by chance.
Saw an empty unit on Lowthian Street. Had a conversation. Got a meeting.
Somehow — we got the keys.
Basement unit. Damp walls. Rough as anything.
Perfect.
We opened in 1994.
13 Lowthian Street. Still there now.
Building It
It started basic.
Strip lights. Makeshift shelves. Bit of DIY everywhere.
Slowly built it up over time — piece by piece.
Friends helped. People we met along the way.
Everyone added something.
The sign on the door said it all:
We sell all kinds of weird and wonderful things from around the globe…
That never really changed.
The Festivals
Festivals became a huge part of the story.
From the mid-90s onwards, we traded at events all over the UK — including over 20 years at one of the country’s biggest festivals.
Long weeks, no sleep, unpredictable everything.
Hard work — but some of the best times we’ve had.
That world shaped the shop just as much as the shop shaped us.
What It Became
Over time, Willy Banjo turned into more than just a shop.
It became a place people come into and just… switch off for a bit.
You see it all the time:
People walk in, look around, and their whole mood changes.
They start pointing things out to their mates.
Laughing. Getting curious. Slowing down.
A mate once called it:
“An absolute jewel.”
That’s stuck.
What’s Changed — And What Hasn’t
A lot has changed since 1993.
The high street. The way people shop. The city itself.
But the core of it hasn’t changed at all.
People still walk down those steps.
Still look around like they’ve found something unexpected.
Still leave with something they didn’t plan to buy.
That feeling — that’s the whole point.
Today
We’re still here.
Same basement. Same attitude.
Still doing things our own way.
Now you can shop online as well — but the heart of it is still in that space on Lowthian Street.
Est. 1993. #Legendary from day one.