Two become one as eco shop and delicatessen share space

TWO independent businesses in Henley are to join together in one shop.

The Henley Larder in Bell Street is to move into FourState in Duke Street on Thursday next week.

The delicatessen and grocery store run by Zoe Ferreira will take over the operation of the eco shop’s café and share the retail space.

Mrs Ferreira, who launched her business in October 2020, said it was “time for a new adventure”.

She said: “This will be upsizing rather than downsizing. The comment I get most from people, other than ‘we love your shop’, is that they would prefer me to be a little bit more central.

“I have fought hard against moving because I absolutely love the part of town I am in — it has got a bit of old Henley charm — but ultimately I had to listen to my customers and I’m giving this a whirl.”

Mrs Ferreira, who lives in Albert Road with her husband Andre, said: “There will be different people getting to know the Henley Larder and all the local brands and I feel that has got to be a good thing for my business.

“I am very glad that I have lots of lovely regulars who I hope will follow me but it will hopefully open it up to people who might not know about the shop and, of course, visitors.”

She will be “resurrecting” Henley on Toast, the pop-up café that she ran for six months until just after Christmas in the former Vintique premises next to Henley Larder. FourState was opened in 2020 by old school friends Patrick Brown and Rob Kemp.

It sells zero waste and environmentally friendly home and beauty products as well as a “refillery”, café and workspace.

The site was previously home to Drifters, a coffee shop which closed in August 2020.

Mrs Ferreira began conversations with the men in December.

She said: “They will continue to hold a range of their products, like their lovely refills, but primarily the shop will be the Henley Larder. It all came about quite quickly. The joining together came as we started talking about Patrick’s plans for the shop.

“We initially discussed my running the coffee side but then it progressed quite quickly into this.

“We wanted to breathe a bit of life into the shop and try a different thing.

“What could be better for our high street than two local shops combining?

“We are very conscious of our footprint in both our product lines and our ethos falls into the same category of sustainability.”

Upstairs will be a new Mexican restaurant, Gringo Loco, run by Gary Wise, which is due to open at the end of this month.

Mr Brown said: “I am super-excited to see what the next step in this place is going to be.

“I am handing over the reins to someone who’s more qualified. It’s a good next step for FourState and Henley Larder.”

Meanwhile, another Henley shop has moved premises. The Valse Collection, a luxury second-hand clothing pop-up shop, has moved from Bell Street to the former site of Liz Felix Millinery in Reading Road.

The shop is run by MacKenzie Ray, 28, a professional showjumper who lives in Pangbourne.

She will be in the new shop for at least five months, while the Phone Clinic and American Candy Shop will move from the former M&Co premises in Bell Street into her former premises, which used to be Crew Clothing.