DELI OF THE

Panzer’s has served the St John’s Wood area of London for more than 75 years but it wasn’t that long ago that this deli looked doomed to close and become just another supermarket. Here’s the story of how customer and entrepreneur David Josephs revived this retail institution.

Interview by Michael Lane

Corner shop cornucopia

THE TAIL-END OF Storm Corrie is putting the kerbside displays at Panzer’s Delicatessen to the test as FFD sits down with its owner at an outside table. One particularly heavy gust sends a display of flowers crashing to the pavement and nearly robs the tahini cookies from the plate in front of us.

But while the shop’s trademark green awnings flutter violently, David Josephs seems untroubled by the blustery weather. Maybe it’s because he himself swept through this iconic business when he bought it in 2015 like a wind of change – and a much-needed one at that.

“When I came along here, this was an institution, but it was tired,” he tells FFD. “It hadn’t been invested in since the ’80s. I don’t think there was a fridge that was under 30 years old, and everything was going wrong.”

Thanks to Josephs’ investment in it over the last five years, the current incarnation of this iconic deli couldn’t be more different.

The 2,000 sq ft of retail space manages to be both brightly lit and extremely densely packed. There’s a vibrant greengrocery area, carrying all manner of staples and exotic varieties of produce. Add to that a wine and alcohol section, chilled and frozen cabinets, numerous shelves of ambient ingredients, a coffee bar, a sushi concession and the deli counter serving up cheese, charcuterie, sandwiches and (of course) the traditional house speciality – hand-cut smoked salmon.

Even late on a Monday morning, the shopfloor is bustling. There seems to be a staff member for nearly every customer – and there are plenty of them perusing the vast array of goods sourced from all over the globe.

“One of the reasons I wanted to do this is because I wanted to show that independent stores can work,” says Josephs. “If you have the right mix.”

And a brief overview of the numbers bears his theory out. In his time at the helm, Josephs has seen staff numbers double to more than 60, turnover grow several times over to around £10m, and profits continue to rise.

While his self-described “corner shop cornucopia” approach to retailing is paying dividends, that doesn’t mean Josephs isn’t conscious and deeply proud of the shop’s traditional Jewish deli roots.

Panzer’s has stood on the same spot in the affluent district of St John’s Wood – within minutes of Lord’s Cricket Ground and the Abbey Road Studios – for more than 75 years. Josephs can remember visiting it as a child with his grandparents to pick up those revered smoked salmon bagels at the weekend. So, he was dismayed to discover that it was on the verge of being sold to a supermarket chain.

With the deal pending, he approached owner Peter Vogel, the son of the business’s cofounder, and made him an offer.

“I said ‘It would be a tragedy. The last thing we want is another bloody supermarket destroying the high street.’ This is not just a store, it’s an anchor for St. John’s Wood.

“So, I said, ‘I’ll buy it’.

“He said, ‘You’re insane. What do you know

VITAL STATISTICS

Location: 13-19 Circus Rd, London NW8 6PB Retail area: 2,000sq ft No. of staff: 64 No. of suppliers: 500 Turnover: ca £10m

about retail?’ I said, ‘Nothing’.”

Josephs is beaming as he recalls this exchange and, in truth, he was probably underplaying his abilities as a businessman and a shop owner. Within the space of seven years, he has started a second career in food, built a greengrocery chain across the city and started a wholesale and import business that brings in produce from all corners of the planet.

It all began in 2010 when Josephs struck up a friendship with Kamil Demir, the owner of a greengrocers on Newington Green that he passed regularly while commuting to the premises of his former business, an electrical component manufacturer.

“I was always led by my stomach,” says Josephs, trying to explain his curiosity about calling in to the store. “As a child, I wanted to have a restaurant.”

After becoming a regular visitor, Josephs’ friendship with Demir soon became a business partnership, with Josephs offering his expertise in logistics among other things. The shop became Newington Greens and was followed by Clifton Greens in Maida Vale. The group has continued to expand, adding shops in Camden and Crouch End, and developing a wholesale operation, called All Greens, that has premises at New Covent Garden and Spitalfields and buyers in Milan and Paris.

A certain Yotam Ottolenghi was impressed enough to write about his admiration for the retail business and is also a wholesale customer.

Even though Josephs had the pedigree to transform Panzer’s fortunes, he still spent a year shadowing Peter Vogel after buying the business to learn the ropes before taking over fully and embarking on a major refit in 2018.

“Quality. Choice. Service. That’s the strapline we inherited, and it hasn’t changed,” he says. “And hopefully we’ve invested in it. Everyone goes the extra mile.”

Josephs has certainly bolstered that third aspect by more than doubling the number of staff during his time at Panzer’s. And it shows on the shop floor. FFD is offered assistance at least three times in five minutes when browsing and you never seem to be more than a few feet from someone in a green apron.

“There are lots of staff who’ve been here 10-years-plus, which is unusual in retail,” says Josephs. “We are the United Nations. We have 64-odd people and probably about 50 different nationalities.”

This melting pot of influences is mirrored by the range at Panzer’s and the owner is open about having emphasised the international element of the offer, introducing more than 3,000 new lines and countless new suppliers since buying the store.

You’ll find every deli item and ingredient you could possibly imagine in the shop but there’s plenty of luxury nestled in between them.

As we walk through the front doors, Josephs grabs a Brazilian lychee, exclaiming: “We’re the only people in the country to have these, they’re sensational.” Within moments he’s pointing out a display of Australian seaweed products and, later on, Panzer’s owner stops in the basement stockroom to extol the virtues of a chocolate he has recently started bringing in from New Zealand.

As you might have guessed, sourcing and importing from abroad doesn’t faze Josephs in the slightest.

“We’ll find anything anywhere,” he says. “We’re renowned for it.

“My previous business exported to 88 countries, so I’d spend six months of the year travelling around the world. I know how logistics works and I always know someone somewhere who I can ask to find me something.”

There are some extreme examples of his capabilities. When it can, Panzer’s will stock cherries from Washington state in the US that retail for as much as £150/kg and then there are the highly prized R2E2 mangoes from Australia, weighing in at 1kg.

“We airfreighted them in and sold them at a loss, but we just wanted people to try them. They are ridiculously priced. £20 retail, for a mango.”

While many retailers would baulk at this kind of strategy, Josephs insists that this is all

MUST-STOCKS

Panzer’s hand-cut smoked salmon

Panzer’s house-made bagels Panzer’s house-made granola Panzer’s egg & mayo salad Panzer’s house-made Schnitzels

Panzer’s house-made cholla & cholla rolls

Panzer’s freshly squeezed orange juice Chicken matzo-ball soup Brogdale apples Tahini cookies

Cacklebean Eggs Olive oil range Cherries (especially British Kent variety)

Fresh truffles Cime di Rapa St George’s bottled mineral water

part of his mission to offer the absolute best in class when it comes to food.

Profit is not everything when it comes to this business, he says, adding: “We could make it much more profitable, but then it wouldn’t be something I would enjoy.”

That said, Brexit has stripped away some of the pleasure that comes with running this operation. Josephs is dismayed at how damaging Brexit has been thus far. Not only have six staff departed but he is also lamenting the loss of at least a dozen suppliers from Italy. One cherished “Mama and Papa” taleggio producer has told him they just cannot deal with the paperwork. Currently, Josephs is concerned by increasing costs and delays to his twice-weekly shipments from Milan, which are now running at €94,000 annually.

“I want one Government minister to come on and tell me one benefit of all of this,” he says, exasperated. “Just give me one.”

Thankfully, Josephs is just as keen on showing his customers the best of British. He was part of the recent effort to save Brogdale Farm, with its collection of heritage fruits, and is now both a customer and a trustee there. And every single egg sold and used in Panzer’s on-site kitchen is from Cotswolds-based Cacklebean Eggs (“The best egg on the market, I think”).

The small but well-equipped in-house kitchen, installed in the basement during Josephs’ extensive refurbishment of Panzer’s, has also been charged with producing as much for the shop as possible – whether it’s the deli’s salads, falafel or the very popular chicken schnitzels.

In a rare move for an urban retailer, Josephs is now trying to take his supply chain one step further and hopes to set up a partnership that will see him take a stake in a biodynamic farm.

“We’ve gone from being a retailer to a wholesaler, then to an importer, and now we want to be the farmer and take it to the stage where we can produce things.”

Whether it’s Josephs’ approach to what he sells or how he sells it (the shop’s refit has been followed by a smart rebrand, an own-label range and the addition of online sales), he has certainly courted a new customer base from the local area and beyond.

While celebs like Nigella Lawson, Harry Potter star Emma Watson and singer Rihanna have joined Paul McCartney (a long-time St John’s Wood resident) in becoming customers, the most noticeable change has been the shift to a younger demographic.

“When we took over this business, 25% of it was account customers and, not exaggerating, I would say the average age was octogenarian.”

“Having worked on livening the shop up and changing it, I would say now the average age is in the 40s.”

It’s certainly evident in terms of the footfall and the shop is “heaving” at weekends, with many people having travelled from other parts of London.

Surely, then, the Panzer’s brand is ripe for expansion?

For now, Josephs is focused on the next greengrocery, which is opening on Abbeville Road in Clapham and bringing all of the stores under the All Greens brand. But he doesn’t rule out an expansion of Panzer’s beyond its current footprint (he jokingly says that he has been eyeing up the branch of Barclays next door) or into other locations.

“I would think there’s probably room for three or four Panzer’s in London,” he tells FFD, admitting that he has had more than a few sites offered to him already. Whichever direction Josephs chooses next, it’s hard to see it being anything other than a success.

panzers.co.uk

I wanted to show that independent stores can work, if you have the right mix.

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