A small shop that takes gifts seriously

Dwarkesh is a family shop on Refinery Road: one counter of greeting cards, a wall of soft toys, and a table at the back where the handmade cards get made.

We choose stock the slow way. Every toy that goes on a shelf has been handled first: we squeeze the soft toys, we click the remote-control cars round the shop floor, and if something feels like it will break in a fortnight we send it back. It means our shelves are smaller than a supermarket's. It also means we can tell you honestly which puzzle a four-year-old will actually finish.

The cards are made here

The back of the shop is a table, a cutting mat, and far too much coloured paper. Pop-ups, quilled flowers, gold-foil borders for anniversaries, wedding stationery with the names set in Gujarati or Hindi — all cut and folded at that table. If you want a card that says something specific, come and tell us what happened. We have written cards for first jobs, for apologies, for a dog's birthday, and once for a man who needed to thank his own mother-in-law properly. We will find the words with you.

How ordering works

There is no shopping cart on this site, deliberately. Every gift has a WhatsApp button that opens a message with the item, the price and the quantity already filled in. You press send; we reply with what is in stock and when you can collect it. Message before 6 PM and it will usually be wrapped and waiting the same day. For return gifts in bulk — forty colouring kits for a school party, say — tell us the number and we will quote you a proper rate.

• Gift wrapping is free, always, and we will not hurry it.
• We keep the good festive stock aside for regulars — just ask early.
• If a toy fails within a week of buying it, bring it back. We will sort it out.