River Cities Business Journal: Business Profile

River Cities Business Journal

KINGMAN - Kingman may seem to be an unlikely place to open an English food store, but it only seemed natural to owner Lesly Clark.

And, Beale Street seemed like a natural place to open it as well.

“We were very interested in Lake Havasu. It was an obvious place to look,” Clark said.

But, a visit to the London Village changed their mind.

“The buildings weren't quite ready for occupancy,” Clark said. “It looked so run down.”

So the decision was made to open in Kingman on a portion of Beale Street that is in the early stages of renovation.

Since their opening on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, of this year, the store has been a roaring success.

“I started to run it on my own, but then we got so busy, there are so many English people around, that I had to ask my daughter to help,” Clark said.

“We waited for two years to find something,” Stephanie Nemes, Clark's daughter and consultant, said. “We finally opened here and the customers were knocking down the door.

“We've had a lot of interest. It's something new and different.”

Clark and Nemes credit there being a lot of British people in the Kingman area and some sophisticated palates for their success.

“There are lots of Scottish people seem to come in and lots of people with English mothers,” Clark said.

“A lot of people in Kingman are very well travelled,” Nemes added. When people have friends over they take them to quaint little places and they've experienced a lot of different things.”

They also credit a comfortable atmosphere to helping improve business. They keep a chair by the sales counter in what they refer to as an “English tradition” so customers can sit down and chat.

“We like to keep it friendly,” Nemes said. “We introduce everybody to everyone.”

They also offer a cup of tea to everyone who walks through the door. The choice of tea may be a tough one, because they offer about 200 types.

While tea is a big selling item other items that are top sellers include scones, lemon curd, English style pickles and curry.

But, the mainstay of the operation is gift baskets.

“When we're not physically with a customer we are doing gift baskets,” Nemes said. “They start at about $4 and go to about $200.”

They try to keep a variety of gift baskets on hand for people who walk in, see one and decide to pick it up, but many are made to order either over the phone or by walk-in customers.

“If they want to come in and shop we'll make anything up for them,” Nemes said.

Another portion of the formula for success has been offering only the best quality.

“”We try all our own products to make sure they're up to the quality that we like,” Clark said. “We want to offer only the best.”