
– Terry Pratchett, interview for Gamespot Magazine.įor twenty years the Emporium was not only at the heart of the Discworld fandom but also our local community, and with Terry’s encouragement we celebrated many civic moments that blurred the edges of fantasy and reality.

“Usually when people have a really big series they franchise it, which I thought is a bit of a no-no, so I thought what I’d do is I’d franchise it to myself.” Many of the items you’ll encounter on our website and hold in your hands were designed or commissioned by the author himself. If Terry wanted something made or had an idea for a product, then we would create it to his exacting standards, and every item we produced in Terry’s lifetime received his personal approval. Terry entrusted his merchandising only to a select few trusted makers, and although Terry’s priority was writing books he maintained an active role in the creation of Discworld wares, overseeing our designs, nipping, tucking, or adding a sprinkle of magic where he saw fit. Throughout Terry Pratchett’s career Discworld merchandise remained a cottage industry. Bernard is a proud member of the Order of the Honeybee an exclusive group of trusted friends and associates chosen by Terry to protect his legacy and work after his death. Terry would visit the Emporium many times to work on projects, spend time with fans and feast with us around the kitchen table.

Not only did we have the rare honour of collaborating with Terry on the creation of Discworld products, but also the rarer privilege of calling him a friend. Now closed to the public, the Emporium exists exclusively online but our bricks and mortar headquarters remains a hallowed place where cunning plans are still hatched and sparks of magic made. It rather tickled our favourite author to have a shop dedicated to his books a little literary haven where his readers could meet like-minded folk and revel in the wonder and silliness of it all, often in the presence of the author himself.
