Dear Walberswick, I wanted to give you an update on the situation with the Tuck Shop. Apologies for the length of this post… but there’s lots to say.
Walberswick is an extraordinary village and the Tuck Shop has been at its heart for 50 years. Both Richard and I had been really concerned about the future of the shop, and the future of the wonderful staff who run it. When the Co-op sale went to final bids, although we know nothing about the retail industry… we made a bid for the freehold. Our bid was accepted, and our plan is now to rent the property at a peppercorn rate to 2 excellent local shopkeepers... BEN AND GAIA WOOLNOUGH.
Ben and Gaia are a young, enthusiastic husband and wife team from Reydon. For the last 8 years Ben has been the manager in charge of the fantastic Bridgefoot Stores in Reydon. We're hoping he can create a similar magic in Walberswick.
Ben and Gaia’s aim is to gradually grow The Tuck Shop into a sustainable, independent, community focussed shop that thrives in partnership with the village - with a carefully chosen range of products that will work for the full mix of their customers:
•good, affordable essentials of all kinds
•well priced sandwiches, snacks and drinks
•good-quality local produce for anyone looking for fresh, farm-sourced goods from trusted suppliers of fruit, veg, meat, fish, wine, pies, and more.
They’re committed to working with the existing staff to meet the village’s needs, and plan to regularly consult the village on stock, services, and priorities.
They’re strongly focused on eco-friendly practices, with less plastic packaging, and want to install solar panels to generate enough power to run the shop and feed back into the grid. They also plan to launch a delivery service by electric bike for those most in need, with the goal of expanding it over time to serve the whole village with home deliveries.
They’d like to put resources into making the front of the shop a prettier, greener, more communal space for meeting and chatting - and want to put the fresh fruit and veg on display in a covered area at the entrance to the shop, where it can be cooled by the sea-air, rather than by fridges.
Another important aim is to give back and help the shop work for the village. Their current ideas include free fruit for children, a village community food bank, and a voucher scheme to support families in need. It’ll all take a bit of time, but they’re really ambitious to make it wonderful - and, once the shop is profitable, Ben and Gaia plan to contribute a share of the profits to village needs, and really contribute to the community in various ways.
And they’re committed to not treading on the toes of our beloved Deli, village pubs and tearooms. They want to work in harmony with the village at every turn.
We feel incredibly lucky to have an opportunity to help keep the Tuck Shop thriving, and to have found Ben and Gaia to create a community hub, that brings joy as well as pasta and toothpaste. They will hopefully be up and running in the autumn, and it’s their mission to make sure the Tuck Shop is inclusive, delicious, for everyone – and ready to serve Walberswick at the start of its second 50 years.
They’ve set up an email account already, for any questions or constructive feedback. It’s Walberswicktuckshop@gmail.com
That’s it for now. Thanks and sorry again for such a long post.