My top three shops in Redhill
By Sue Fenton of F Words editing and copywriting services
www.fwords.co.uk
As editor of a business-to-business magazine whose readership is primarily independent retailers, I’ve always been aware of the importance to local communities of the small traders and conscious of the cost pressures that face them in trying to compete alongside the ‘big boys’.
So when it comes to identifying my favourite shops, the independents do tend to steal a march on the clone town chains. It’s the independents that give real personality to local shopping areas and that give consumers a proper choice.
Number 1
My current number one, as a bit of a ’foodie’, is the United Oriental and Asian Mini Market in Cromwell Road in Redhill. It’s a little off the beaten track, being just outside the main pedestrian precinct, but is well worth a visit if you need to buy ingredients for any Asian or Oriental recipe.
I like the great choice but especially the prices - it’s very easy to assume that items like herbs and spices are cheapest in the big supermarkets but actually this is very far from being the case. You can purchase a big bag of spice from the Mini Mart for the same price as a tiny jar at the supermarket and the same goes for stock items like rice, which at the Mini Mart come in economically priced big sacks, far more useful to the regular cook than the little 500g bags sold at the supermarkets.
I particularly like the butcher’s counter, where you can buy more unusual meat like goat, and cows’ feet, as well as everyday things like stewing steak and chicken breasts. Again, the meat is noticeably better value - and better quality - than the tiny shrink-wrapped portions available at the supermarkets.
Fresh items include chillis, big bunches of coriander and mint, limes, curry leaves and natural yoghurt.
The place is an Aladdin’s Cave of fascinating foodstuffs - one visit there and you end up buying stuff you never knew you needed, and rushing home to consult the Indian cookbook to find out what to do with it!
United Oriental & Asian Mini Market
2 Cromwell Road, Redhill, Surrey RH1 1RT
01737 778444
Number 2
Another Aladdin’s Cave makes it to number two on my list. Once you go through the door of Mortons the Padlock, the specialist ironmongers on the Brighton Road (near the junction with Mill Street), you are lost in a maze of little rooms and corridors, all piled high with everything you could need for DIY and home maintenance. Having spent far more time than I would wish trying to get intelligent assistance at certain local DIY superstore chains, I now head straight for Mortons, where all the staff know their products and how to use them and can quickly rustle you up a basketful of the items you need to erect a shelf, paint the utility room, fix a leaking tap or whatever.
Especially useful is the ability to buy nails and screws in small quantities, selecting as many as you need from shelves of giant tins - rather like an old-fashioned sweetie shop! This is far more economical if you are doing a small job than having to buy everything in packets at the superstores.
The staff also approach you and ask if you need help - a rare enough thing in shops these days, and are often able to translate one’s inarticulate request for ‘one of those thingy-bob wotsits’ by patiently asking what particular DIY task you are trying to undertake. They even call you ‘Madam’ or ‘Sir’ which, despite making one feel distinctly middle-aged, is a very welcome touch.
Mortons The Padlock
141-143 Brighton Road, Redhill, Surrey RH1 6PS
01737 766516
Number 3
Another food outlet is my current number three. Cullender’s is that sweet little Victorian-style deli that opened last year in Linkfield Street, on the junction with Elm Road opposite the White Lion pub.
It’s a bit off the beaten track being five minutes’ walk from the town centre but even so does a good trade, especially among local residents, selling everything for the foodie from fresh olives and newly-baked bread to organic veg, from unusual cheeses and preserved lemons to luxury chocolates and freshly-made coffee to take away.
A customised cheese hamper service proved popular for Christmas gifts, and there are options like handmade pies, fresh bread and organic soups, to cater for those office workers who wander up to Cullender‘s for their lunch.
Marc and Joelle Cullender, the owners, gave up their jobs in financial services to fulfil their dream of owning their own business and say they would never go back. You might remember the shop from its years of semi-dereliction, one of many old-fashioned corner shops to go out of business over the years. The renovation was carried out with great care to preserve the building’s Victorian character, right down to the white-tiled walls and old-fashioned clock and blackboard. During the Big Snow in January when everything was cold and crisp and dark, Cullender’s, with its twinkly lights, stood out on the corner like a beacon of warmth in a street scene from Dickens.
Marc and Joelle have since opened a second branch, in Bell Street, Reigate.
Cullenders Delicatessen & Food Store
53 Linkfield Street, Redhill RH1 6BY
01737 826567
And
6a Bell Street, Reigate, RH2 7BG
www.cullenders.com
By Sue Fenton of F Words editing and copywriting services
www.fwords.co.uk