STORE REVEW: THE HEART OF ELIZABETH BAY

THE HEART OF ELIZABETH BAY

When a great location, great customer service, and great retailing combine.. magic happens.

Nestled 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.

Poppi Alexandridis and Vincent Xu

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

“A lot of my customers are elderly and need a little bit of extra looking after, so I made sure that I was setting aside essentials for them,” he says.

“At the beginning of COVID, I would have customers calling me asking if I had any toilet paper or tissues, so I would put together a special package for them and deliver it to their homes.”

Floor to ceiling shelving is cleverly arranged to provide easy shoppability

The store makes the most of every square metre of space

Xu, who doesn’t normally offer home delivery, says that he was more than happy to go the extra mile for his customers during that period of uncertainty.

Some of these customers were 90 years old and afraid to leave their houses, and Xu says the gratitude he received for helping them has been one of his fondest memories since taking over the business.

“The families of these customers actually sent me boxes of chocolates and cards thanking me for looking after their parents during this time – it was really special.”

Spending time with Xu and Alexandridis outside their stores, it is obvious just how loved they are by the community.

I am very lucky with where my store is positioned on the corner on the main road, so it has always been the most convenient of the convenience stores in the area.”

Alexandridis told us that in the 35 years she’s been running her stores, she has worked every single day, and has never had an unhappy customer.

“I just love serving the customers. It’s a great community,” she says, in her charming Greek accent.

There have been other convenience stores open nearby over the years, but none have survived.

“I am very lucky with where my store is positioned on the corner on the main road, so it has always been the most convenient of the convenience stores in the area, which is why I’m still open and the others have sadly closed,” says Xu.

Browsing the aisles at Elizabeth Bay Deli

“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.

“The locals all see us as ‘the corner shop’. It has become a destination where people meet, where they catch up with friends. Everyone knows where we are and who we are.”

The ritzy Elizabeth Bay area, with its extraordinary harbour views, is home to a number of celebrity A-listers, who often frequent the corner shop.

“We see everyone here, from David Bowie when he used to live just around the corner, to horse trainer Bart Cummings, businessman Lindsay Fox, Sarah O’Hare, and lots of actors and supermodels. We’ve also served Don Walker from Cold Chisel and Jimmy Barnes; they’ve all come here over the years.

“When David Bowie used to live just down the road, every year at Christmas he used to bring us the most expensive Champagne as a gift,” say Xu and Alexandridis fondly.

The success and longevity of this retailing hub goes to show that when a great location, great customer service, and great retailing techniques combine, magic can happen.