Great Buys — Yuns

The average hardware store isn’t typical Patter territory. But, then, Yuns is not your typical hardware store.

Founded by Kelly Wright, a Korean-American who grew up in a family of “farmers and blue collar workers” she “saw an opportunity to reimagine the experience from a female, POC and more inclusive perspective”. The name embodies this feeling. A variation on ‘y’all’, “it’s an all-inclusive term of endearment and a gender-neutral word. I want [Yuns] to be a place for everybody, where anyone feels welcome and appreciated.”

Currently online only, the site is – perhaps surprisingly for a purveyor of plungers and screwdrivers – a whole lot of fun. Amongst particularly pleasing scrubbing brushes and measuring tapes, there are design books, cheery household items and – our favourite – a key-hiding rock. Wright says she looks for items that have “quality, utility, design and story” and recommends a tape measure, a spirit level and screwdriver as essentials to buy from Yuns.

She’s coincided with a moment where DIY has added interest and the ability to, say, put up a shelf feels low-key aspirational.

She’s continuing on that journey too—with plans for a physical store and classes to teach the design-appreciative the skills to make those designs themselves.
Visit Yuns.