Sister stores are 50 miles apart Johns Wines of St Ives is set to open a second shop in Fowey, Cornwall. Brothers Sam and Tom Hanson took
ownership in St Ives almost a decade ago, but in fact the business was established
in 1894 by their great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Johns. “We are the oldest family business in St Ives!” says Sam.
After her fisherman husband died at sea,
Johns started a shop in her house. “She had six kids to support, so she opened up her
front room as a greengrocer,” Sam explains.
Johns Wines, “the oldest family business in St Ives”, is opening in Fowey
Over the years the shop has had various
guises but always remained trading and in the family. The brothers took over in 2013 and decided to focus on alcohol.
with us in the shop; they have some lovely
great-great granddad’s fishing boat in the
says.
“We completely gutted it, but it’s quite
cool as we’ve still got the mast from our
cellar, holding up the shop floor,” Sam says. “We specialise in spirits and craft beers.
We’re really into our whiskies.
“I am in the process of having a big
overhaul of our wine list. There’s been a change, in that people around us are
getting more excited about wine and they
are prepared to spend a bit more and treat
themselves. The under-£10 section of wine dropped off a lot with us, and the £10 to
£30 range has jumped massively, which is fantastic as there is much more scope for
me to buy interesting stuff in that bracket.” The two stores are about 50 miles apart.
So how will that work in practice? “Tom and I run everything from our office/
warehouse in St Erth,” says Sam, “and have
artisanal grower Champagnes and so I’m
going to get some of those in this year,” he
With the new premises about “six times”
the size of the St Ives store, the brothers are full of plans. “It will be fun to have
some space to play with for a change,” says Sam. “We could have wine tastings and all sorts going on.”
The first floor, initially earmarked for
a wine bar/café, will most likely house a second branch of their restaurant, Beer & Bird, while the ground floor will be dedicated to wine and spirits.
Getting bigger in Bridge of Allan
a manager who runs the daily operations
The relocation of WoodWinters’ Bridge
In addition to working with suppliers
The shop has moved from number 2 to
of the store – and will do the same with
of Allan store just a few doors away has
including Alliance, North South and Fells,
24 Henderson Street, and the team couldn’t
Fowey.”
increased retail space considerably.
Sam is just about to start working with
be happier with the result.
Sip Champagnes. “They did a great tasting
Commercial director Rodney Doig says:
THE WINE MERCHANT march 2022 4
“It’s a much bigger location, so we’ll have more room for tastings and have more
stock better presented in a better space.”
Woodwinters co-owns the new premises,
which it now shares with offices and a
wine bar. “It’s been about three years of
work between us and the other owners to change it from a hotel into three separate businesses,” Doig adds.
