Shops / News
Mabel’s Greengrocer opens on Chandos Road
Melanie Hill has gone from working 15-hour weeks as a financial administrator to 15-hour days as a greengrocer. At least her accounts will always be in order at her new business.
The career change has come about after Melanie took the leap to provide what her own local community has said it has needed for a long time.
Mabel’s Greengrocer on Chandos Road in Redland is the latest addition to what is swiftly becoming a food and drink destination.
is needed now More than ever
Aron’s Jewish Delicatessen next door have taken their first order of fruit and veg from Melanie, the team from No Man’s Grace (now the holders of a Bib Gourmand) have popped in for a chat and they have got a congratulatory tweet from Michelin-starred Wilks.
“It already feels like a community shop and that is exactly what we wanted to create,” Melanie tells Bristol24/7 in between serving a steady stream of customers.
“There have been some lovely people coming into the shop so far saying that they have always wanted a greengrocer on this road. The feedback has been fantastic and I think that we’re helping to bring back the feel of what Chandos Road was like 100 years ago.”
Melanie has spent the last few years looking for a suitable site to come available in what residents here have started to call Chandos Village.
The shop she is now in was most recently an antique shop, before that a children’s play cafe and Melanie remembers having her hair cut here many years ago.
Melanie’s day now starts at the crack of dawn at Bristol Wholesale Fruit Centre in St Phillip’s Marsh, where many of the traders have given advice on what to stock in the shop.
Customers have also had their say, and Melanie points to tomatoes in a plastic conatiner that aren’t selling as well as loose produce, giving Mabel’s a farm shop feel.
Alongside the oranges, Scotch bonnet chillies, broad beans and more are glass jars of spices from the Sweet Mart in Easton.
Melanie says her biggest challenge so far has been balancing the long hours in the new shop with seeing her family, including her dog Mabel after who the business is named.
“But I love the community and the neighbourhood here,” Melanie says. “And the positive feedback from customers, children coming in to buy fruit on their way to school, and finally opening the shop make it all worthwhile.”
Mabel’s Greengrocer, 17 Chandos Road, Redland, Bristol, BS6 6PG
0117 336 0046