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Our First High Street Shop!
50 The Strand
In April 2018 we spotted the perfect location at 50 The Strand for our first shop on the high street. It was in fact a café that I used to frequently visit as a kid for their epic double tiered sandwich rolls and jacket potatoes. To make the world even smaller the landlord’s father was my grandfather’s landlord for his first Chinese restaurant in Exmouth, the Rice Bowl!
There was a long handover process, which was frustrating, but in August 2018 we got the keys and started decorating and making the place ours. We did decide, however, that the place was a little big for just a wine shop and the levels of stock we could afford at the time, so since there was a kitchen in place already, we made use of my foodie passion and created a Wine Café with a small seasonal menu focusing on serving local produce where possible.
In the final week of August 2018, we opened our doors! It was as chaotic as you could imagine trying to manage retail sales and a café at the same time but I’m forever grateful to my now wife, Sonia, for leaving her managers job at Holland and Barrett to come and join me on this adventure. She brought order to the chaos and of course calm as I had someone I could fully trust looking after the front of house (and the admin which I despise!).
However, as 2019 started we began to build a strong customer base of regulars one of which became a dear friend, Trevor, who visited us at least twice a day! (We dearly miss Trevor who sadly passed in March 2022, especially all the stories, banter and calls for help when he deleted his whole phone contact list, again…)
Then in April 2019 we had the shock of our lives! We were nominated for the Best Café/Restaurant at the Exmouth Chamber of Commerce Awards!
After only being open for 6 months and struggling through a tough winter we were both surprised by the news and even more so when at the awards ceremony we actually WON!
After that surprising win…
The rest of 2019 really picked up for us as we had a great summer of trade and our online wine sales picked up too, although to this day it still amazes me how over 70% of our online wines sales are sent outside of Devon and of that 70% around 90% goes to London!
Just as business got to a good level and we found our rhythm, in March 2020 Covid hit. Even before the Lockdown was announced all the local businesses in town were already seeing the signs.
Luckily for us we could continue the online wine sales which, as with most online businesses at the time, really took off. Not only were we sending the usual ones outside of Devon, but we also spent most days delivering locally. Admittedly for a pair of introverts like us we enjoyed the Lockdowns albeit the looming financial burdens from not being able to trade properly.
The intermittent lockdowns gave us well needed breaks from the carnage in between, as when we could open, we worked ourselves to the ground to make up for the lost revenue, especially as at the time our mind set was to do everything we can as we didn’t know what would happen next. The anxiety from the lack of stability was difficult for the both of us, but perhaps that’s why we decided to get married in January 2021!
2021 was also the year we had hit a ceiling at 50 The Strand and felt we had outgrown the café, and to achieve what we dreamed of we needed to move.
So, in May 2021 we closed the doors on our 50 The Strand chapter and moved around the corner to 32 The Strand!
Further Reading
The birth of Wine Hub Devon Ltd
Back to Devon…
How it all began!
Hong Kong turned me into a Wine addict…
