Helpston Stores now open!

There was no big official opening, but on Wednesday new owner, Mr Mohamed Nanji said that the following day he would be “25% open” and sure enough on Thursday the shelves were filling up and anyone who popped in found manager, ‘Mr Baz’, ready to serve them with whatever was available. First customer was Clarice Rook, who is pictured here getting a bottle of milk.

A message for the village from Mohamed is this: “We have been very impressed already by the number of people who have dropped in to wish us luck. We are hoping that the shop will be well supported, as well as the Post Office which, we hope, will be up and running by the end of November. They say: ‘Use it, or lose it’ and that will be very much the case for this shop and PO. We really look forward to getting to know everybody and being of service to the community.”

Although Mohamed has ownership, he will remain very much in the background owing to other commitments and he is relying on his cousin, Baz, to be responsible for the day to day running of the business. Baz previously had a business in Mounsteven Avenue, Walton, Peterborough, ‘Baz’s Quickstop’ , close to where Mohamed ran a pharmacy. A licence for a pharmacy at Helpston has been applied for.

This friendly pair, who got the sweet tin out for anyone who happened to be passing this week, are full of enthusiasm for their new project. There are already newspapers in store and there will be fresh bread daily. There will not be an off-licence, because Baz and Mohamed are muslims and it is against their religion. Otherwise, “Come and tell us what you want”, says Mohamed, “and we will get it.”

Watch for the Village Tribune for an update on how the shop is developing.