English Imports/Corfu Homestore

So many people have asked us if we are closing the shop (previously English Imports, now Corfu Homestore) that it seemed a good idea to put the record straight.

Yes, the shop is for sale. We have been working for nearly 15 years now, beginning with children's clothing and duvets, covers, sheets and Christmas stuff, in a tiny shop in Guilford Street, and then moving into our current larger premises near Bank of Cyprus, just off San Rocco Square. After the move we expanded into ladies' clothing, essential foodstuffs, gifts, home accessories, china - in fact as people said, 'Why dont you bring so and so?", we went and looked for it, and brought it.

Over the years we have spent hours on the road in England searching out warehouses that did 'stock' designer goods (many many years before all the so called 'designer stock' shops now so prevalent here) so much so that we are now extremely familiar with warehouses and factories from Swindon to Bolton via Leicester and goodness knows where else! We spent what seems like days stuck in traffic jams in Stoke-on-Trent on our way to vast china warehouses, where we had to wear gloves and scarves to root through all their china bargains as it was so cold - and dusty!

We must have stayed in practically every Travelodge/Travel Inn/Holiday Inn Express in the north of England as well as a few 'time warp' gems on our way either north or south. (We have particularly fond memories of the Station Hotel at Stoke-on-Trent, which for some reason had a huge carefully cut out hole in the bathroom window, making bathing an invigorating experience!) What a joy it was when we found a super bargain in a really nice hotel, at the end of a 14 hour day.

However, a few years ago our other businesses - Corfuhomefinders and Corfu Premier Property started to take up more of our time. Whilst the shop and the estate agencies do in many ways complement each other, they both need time and attention and, regretfully, there are not enough hours in the day!

After much discussion, we have decided to sell the shop. We have had many years of what has actually been a great experience, and if we had not got so involved with the property business we would probably have carried on for ever, but the estate agency is threatening to take over, and something has to go, so reluctantly we have put the shop business on the market.

We see it as a brilliant opportunity for someone who is looking for a complete lifestyle change and wants to set up business here, but also wants to maintain ties with the UK. Over the years we have had enormous fun travelling back to the UK several times each year and arranging transport for our personally chosen stock back to Corfu. The business is completely flexible (a new owner could sell almost anything they choose) as we have a background of contacts and suppliers from practically every field of retail, and even a UK Limited Company of our own through which we do the buying in Britain. Now is the ideal time for buying goods in the UK with the near parity of pound and euro, and the drop in oil prices has meant that transport costs have fallen back to a reasonable level.

Although we have always been located in Corfu Town, and would be prepared to vacate the present premises which we rent, the potential retail areas have expanded vastly over the last few years and a new owner really could choose where they wanted to be based - anywhere on the island. We can give loads of advice on location and help both in the UK and Corfu until you get started. There are also two part-time members of staff who could stay on if necessary to give a new owner some time to get used to the business.

If anyone would like more information just email us on info@corfupremierproperty.com.
Susan

Best laid plans

Today was supoosed to be one of those well organised days. We were going to head south to meet Diana and her husband, have a look at the new houses they are building and then head off together for a fish lunch at the taverna at Petriti which Diana has been telling us all about. Phoning to confirm our meeting arrangements, it was obvious that this was not going to happen as the Aegean flight which her daughter was catching back to Athens and then on to London had been cancelled. So the whole day changed and we found ourselves along the north east coast instead, at Thomas' Taverna in Kalami.

This winter, Thomas (editor of "My Kerkyra" magazine) has started opening on Sunday lunchtimes, and he has a nice warm seating area right down on the beach where you can watch the boats passing by, or in our case a great big black sea bird diving for fish. We are fairly sure it was a cormorant, but checking in our bird book later it could have been a shag. The weather was terrible with lots of storm clouds over the coast of Albania, but as our lunch progressed, it improved and the sun finally came out. We ate well, choosing "tsigarelli" (wild greens cooked in tomato and red pepper), baked green peppers stuffed with feta, and then both of us chose a seafood maincourse, mine a risotto and my partner's a pasta dish. A carafe of red wine later and we were ready to walk along the now sunny beach and take a nice photo for this blog.

Returning to the car to pick up the camera and don walking boots rather than heels (me not him), we were feeling suitably mellow, only to find a completely flat rear tyre! Good job I had my man with me, as I have never been one of those capable women who can do that kind of thing.

So we didn't get our fish lunch at Petriti or our walk along the beach, but we did have a very nice lunch indeed, and will be returning there again.
Sarah

Corfu at its absolute, bright and shiny best!

What a wonderful day we enjoyed yesterday - January 6th - for the celebrations for "Fota" or Epiphany. Despite the Greek weather forecast telling us that "the whole of Greece" was celebrating in freezing temperatures with rain and snow, Corfu once again proved itself to be the exception that proved the rule, and our temperatures rose to 15 degrees and probably a lot more in the sun!

One thing I found really interesting about the religious part of the proceedings was how many men were at the church - and nearly all of them clutching a bottle, cup or other receptacle to take home some of the blessed water from the font. I had to ask husband what people actually do with the water when they get it home. Apparently it can be drunk, sprinkled over wounds/injuries, rooms, houses - and generally used for anything where a bit of extra help is required!
Susan

High-heeled law enforcers

Corfu Town traffic police were out in full force at the celebration of "Ta Fota", ready to apprehend serious offenders and tow away illegally parked cars.

I just couldn't help wondering how this very glamourous Police Officer could manage to stay on her feet all day, let alone give chase to any villains.
Sarah

Easyjet

Many people will probably already know, but in addition to the Gatwick Easyjet flights, there will now be flights from both Bristol and Manchester, running from May. This can only be good news, in a year when everyone seems determined to bring only bad news to us poor countries in the eurozone.

Holiday companies are pushing their clients to Egypt, Bulgaria and Turkey; Thomson TV actually has a programme called 'Escape the Euro'; and UK television keeps reminding the British public how expensive everything will be for them now.

However, historically people go where they want to go. The Caribbean has always been disproportionately expensive but people who love it there still go. If you love Greece you are hardly likely to consider a baking desert in Egypt as a suitable alternative - or a crowded Bulgarian beach as comparable with a secluded Corfu bay.

People will no doubt be more careful with their money, but travel surveys in the UK recently show that people rate their holiday as one of the last things they would sacrifice and we hope that they will continue to visit Corfu and enjoy the welcome they receive here, as they always have in the past.
Diana