STORE REVIEW Vincent Xu, Owner, Elizabeth Bay Deli
THE HEART OF ELIZABETH BAY When a great location, great customer service, and great retailing combine... magic happens.
N What people love the most about this area is that it has always been a village and people can just walk from their homes and come here to grab anything they need.” – Vincent Xu
estled on a vibrant corner of one of Sydney’s swankiest suburbs is a group of shops that have become the heart of Elizabeth Bay. And after meeting with the owners of these stores, Convenience & Impulse Retailing found that it’s these people who keep this heart beating. Vincent Xu, Poppi Alexandridis, are two of the retailers at 76 Elizabeth Bay Road, running Elizabeth Bay Deli and Poppi's Place. If you speak to any locals in the Elizabeth Bay area, they will know these two by name, and in fact, it was one of these locals who originally wrote into C&I asking us to feature them in the magazine. We thought that if a customer is asking us to feature their local convenience store in the magazine, then it must be pretty special, so we were eager to find out why.
Since taking over, Xu has made lots of changes to the store, including increasing the product range, in terms of the number of SKUs as well as the variety. He also updated the way products are displayed to make the most out of every square metre of space. The store features floor to ceiling shelving with every inch of space cleverly utilised. It also has a deli with cheese, meats, dips, and charcuterie, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables. “Feedback from the local community has been great. People know that they can come here for anything they need, and we will have it for them.” When the COVID pandemic hit in early 2020, sending shoppers into a frenzy of panic buying with household staples like flour and toilet paper stripped from shelves, Xu made sure that he was always able to service his local community.
Elizabeth Bay Deli is owned by Xu, who actually purchased it off Alexandridis who owns and operates Poppi’s Place, the café just next door. Xu and his family have owned convenience stores for years, including one at nearby Paddington and another at Clovelly. He says that he used to walk by Elizabeth Bay Deli all the time and had his heart set on buying it immediately due to its prime location. “It’s just in such a great spot so I knew that I wanted to buy it right away,” explains Xu. “That was back in 1999, but Poppi made me come back three times before she finally agreed to sell it to me.”
10 October/November 2021 | C&I | www.c-store.com.au
Floor to ceiling shelving is cleverly arranged to provide easy shoppability
