Page 6 - February 2020

Shop Local –
Charles of Belgravia
By Mary Regnier-Leigh
One of our constant complaints is that we do not have enough local shops. General stores are often spoken of as the
most needed. Towards the end of Lower Belgravia Street, we have one such shop. Charles of Belgravia at number 27.
The shop is well stocked, with almost everything you could want in the grocery
line: household utilities, cleaning products, candles and soap. There is also ice cream, wonderful fresh fruit and vegetables, sweets, nuts, sauces and many other items. As well as all this, the shop also stocks newspapers with free deliveries of orders available. It is more like a domestic Aladdin’s Cave than a shop.
How long Charles of Belgravia has been there is not exactly known, but certainly 60 years
or more. Its present proprietor is Bally Singh who came to Charles in 2017 and took over from the previous owner who was retiring. I asked Bally what changes he had made. He told me there is now a much greater choice
of frozen and chilled goods, more organic produce including olive oils, and more sauces
6 | The Belgravia Society Magazine
than before. Also, Bally has added many
more wines, including choices of champagne and a wider range of spirits. There are also other additions. Bally also sells a new type of cigarette: IQOS which is said to be 95% less bad for the health and, at only £5 per pack, if you want to cut down or stop, why not have
a try? One thing that has not changed is the availability of fresh orange juice, and very fresh it is. The shop has a machine to turn oranges into juice. You can actually watch the orange transformed into juice if you catch a batch being prepared. It is the best absolutely pure orange juice that I know.
The shop is open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays.Apart from having the convenience of the shop, the other good news for members of The Belgravia Society is that Bally will give you a 10% discount if you tell him that you are a member of the Society.
Do use the shop. If we do not use our local shops we will lose them, and this is one we need to keep. n
www.thebelgraviasociety.org