Spotlight

POST LOCKDOWN URBAN VILLAGE LDN HAS BEEN SHINING A LIGHT ON A DIFFERENT FULHAM BUSINESS EACH MONTH. IN THIS ISSUE WE TALK TO FULHAM RESIDENT AND OWNER OF THE BOTTLE SHOP, NIMESH PATEL

The Fulham branch of the Bottle Shop at 273 New Kings Road opened in October 2019 and of course was featured on our “What’s New” page. A year down the line we got in touch with Nimesh to talk to him and hear more about the story behind his business. “My family have been in retail for many years. Our first Bottle Shop branch opened in Wimbledon in 2016 and I’d been looking for the right location along the New Kings Road for years. I have lived in Fulham for most of my life. My father originally owned Freshco on Wandsworth Bridge Road. I love Fulham and the family vibe that you get round here is amazing.”

We love independent bottle shops and asked Nimesh what he thinks makes his shop different. “I have a passion for selling alcohol and have seen how alcohol is sold differently in other parts of the world. Usually, all the good stuff is behind a counter. This immediately puts a barrier between the customer and the retailer. Both of my shops are open plan. The windows are usually open and clear, but currently we have some window art on both sets of windows which we think makes the shop more inviting and less intimidating”.

The Bottle Shop sells a range of craft beers, wines, champagnes and spirits and Nimesh told us “I tend to stay away from 'supermarket wines' as product lines. Customer interaction is absolutely key in the way I operate my businesses. I have a stool so my customers can come in and have a chat. It is not always about selling products to people, but more about the person that walks into my shops, to us it’s key getting to know and understand the customer, that’s more important to me. I don't sell online, I prefer to get to know my customers, face to face. This practice has been lost by so many retailers”.

We spoke to Nimesh during the first lockdown when we adapted the Urban Village LDN web-site as a local resource for residents so it was interesting to catch up and talk further about how the pandemic had affected his business. “COVID has been a blessing for me in the sense that it has made more of the locals aware that my business is here. People appreciate that I sell really good quality wines and spirits at reasonable prices. I have had many more customer requests for specialty products, due to the limited size of the Fulham shop I am not able to stock a vast array of products but I have been able to source some weird and wonderful products for my customers. I’ve also got better aquainted with my customers. Recently one of my regular customers come in to sit on our stool, she was here for about 2 hours. In light of the current pandemic, her life circumstances had changed dramatically, she needed someone to chat to and just get out of the house. When she left, she said, 'This place is more than a place to buy alcohol, this place is a haven”“.

Instagram @bottleshop_uk