09/10/2026
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲?
Ever wondered where the name TIQI came from?
The story actually goes back much further than the shop itself.
Steve started buying and selling secondhand goods in the early 1980s, initially at weekend flea markets in Kent and later at car boot sales and fairs further afield.
Over the years, he noticed that some of the things people found most interesting weren’t necessarily the obvious or valuable items. They were often the unusual things. The oddities. The things that made someone stop rummaging, pick something up and take a closer look.
Steve began visiting auction rooms looking for more of those weird and wonderful finds, and eventually accumulated far more stock than was practical to carry from market to market.
So, in 2009, he opened a small corner shop in Lowestoft.
There was just one thing missing. A name.
Then Steve remembered a phrase he’d heard countless times from people browsing his stalls over the years:
“𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.”
And there it was.
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝘀 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.
𝗧𝗜𝗤𝗜.
The little corner shop didn’t stay little forever. As the business grew, more space was needed and, in 2023, TIQI moved into its much larger home at 𝟴-𝟵 𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁.
The shop may be bigger, but the idea behind it hasn’t changed: a constantly changing mixture of the useful, unusual, unexpected and occasionally downright peculiar.
Come in and see what you find quite interesting.
📍 TIQI
8-9 Bevan Street East
Lowestoft
NR32 2AA
