Setting up a delicatessen in Merthyr Tydfil might seem like an unexpected business venture, but that's what Jim and Joan Johnson did in 1982.
Johnsons' Delicatessen became a popular and much-loved shop in the 1980s and 90s selling Italian meats, cheeses and sweet-treats to its local customers.
The deli was influenced by the delicatessens of northern Italy (which Jim discovered during a European cycling tour in 1954) and the strong Italian-Welsh heritage in Merthyr and the wider Valleys dating back to the industrial revolution.
Today Jessica Howells, the granddaughter of the original owners, has taken the reins of the family business and reopened the deli in its new location in the Pontmorlais area of the town.
The deli has had a warm reception from the locals since it reopened last month.
Jessica said: 鈥淟ots of people came out to welcome us and share stories of my grandparents鈥 shop. Everyone has been saying how they remembered the shop and have amazing things to say about it, it is quite big shoes for me to fill.鈥
Fortunately Jessica has been able to rely on support and expert advice from her grandparents who, although retired now, have been on hand to help Jessica as she navigates the first few weeks of running the speciality food shop.
鈥淚 was pretty nervous about using the meat slicer because it鈥檚 quite a big scary piece of equipment,鈥 she said. 鈥淢y grandfather came down and helped us set it up and gave us some safety advice.鈥
While Johnsons鈥 Delicatessen might have a long history in Merthyr, Jessica is very much looking at taking the business forward into the future with plans to combine traditional retail with e-commerce and home delivery.
鈥淎 lot has changed since my grandparents were running the shop,鈥 said Jessica. 鈥淭he internet has really revolutionised retail and my grandparents had closed before all of that.鈥
She added: 鈥淏ut they did a lot of revolutionary things at the time. They offered a lunch delivery service, had a cafe, offered outside catering for events and supplied sandwiches to the local hospital shop.
鈥淢y grandfather has always been a bit of an innovator and looked outside of the box of how to run a business and I think that鈥檚 what I take from him. I鈥檓 always looking to see how we can use what鈥檚 new to benefit the business and our customers.鈥
Jessica is already trialling a lunch delivery service with online food ordering and delivery platform, Uber Eats, providing coffee, sandwiches and other lunch items for home delivery.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to eventually offer a full grocery order service for home deliveries. There are a lot of new apps coming out that offer that to people in the major cities but we鈥檙e looking for one that joins Merthyr.鈥
The physical shop is around 260 sq ft in size and, like its predecessor, also offers a range of Welsh and Italian food products.
There are 25 lines in the deli so far. Locally-sourced Welsh brands like Big Dog Coffee, Caws Cenarth cheese, and Trecastle Eggs from Brecon sit alongside Italian cured meats, cheeses, and pastas which Jessica sources from a Bristol-based Sicillian distributor.
Continuing to take the shop into the digital age, Jessica plans to put together some YouTube videos on certain products in the shop, encouraging customers to buy and cook with ingredients they may not have come across before.
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Although already hosting indoor events like sample evenings, workshops and producer-led masterclasses as a way of driving footfall to the store, Jessica thinks the town's regeneration and the opening of more independent shops in Pontmorlais will encourage more people to visit the high street.
鈥淚t鈥檚 starting to look more like a traditional market town, like Cowbridge or Abergavenny. It鈥檚 those towns with that strong independent high street that make them more of a destination and people travel from further afield to visit them,鈥 she said.
The regeneration of Pontmorlais has been funded by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council and its Meanwhile scheme. The scheme aims to breathe new life into Pontmorlais High Street by financially supporting new enterprises to open in vacant historical buildings.
It forms part of the council鈥檚 2021-2035 master plan for Merthyr Tydfil, replacing the 2002 Merthyr Tydfil Regeneration Plan and aiming to regenerate the town over the next 15 years and provide new residential, office, retail and leisure space.
It was this support from the council, along with additional funding from the Targeted Regeneration Investment programme (TRI) from the Welsh Government, which helped Jessica reopen Johnsons鈥 Delicatessen and create one new job.
The funding will continue to support the business over its first three months of trading and Jessica is planning to work with the local council鈥檚 employability team to take on more staff.
鈥淭he first months are pretty tight with cash flow when starting a new business. We鈥檝e spent an awful lot to start up so that grant is predominantly helping us with business costs like salaries, insurance, and rent,鈥 said Jessica.
She would like to see more done to encourage independent retailers to open bricks-and-mortar stores on high streets across Wales.
鈥淭here is a lot of upfront cost in setting up in a physical shop, it鈥檚 financially far easier to set up online and that has to be taken into consideration because the added value of having independent shops in small towns is beneficial for every business. It鈥檚 a symbiotic relationship,鈥 she added.
鈥淧eople shop in a very different way now, so a visit to the high street is a much slower shopping experience with customers making more impulse purchases. Having a more personal and individual shopping experience in each town would in general boost tourism and footfall.鈥
Cabinet member for regeneration, transformation and commercialisation, councillor, Geraint Thomas, said: 鈥淎s we look to a brighter 2022, it鈥檚 wonderful to see yet another business opening in Merthyr Tydfil 鈥 especially one linked so intrinsically to the history of the town. I鈥檓 sure that Jessica and the team will be warmly welcomed by those who do and don鈥檛 remember the original deli, with thanks to the town鈥檚 thriving foodie population.
鈥淛ohnsons鈥 Delicatessen is the latest in a long line of businesses to benefit from the council鈥檚 Meanwhile scheme in 2021 鈥 and I鈥檓 thrilled to say that there鈥檚 even more in store for the town centre in 2022.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all part of the council鈥檚 wider masterplan for the town 鈥 which aims to transform the town into the tourism capital of the Valleys by 2035.鈥
