Siblings delighted to serve community with new butchers and grocery store in busy Northampton street

A new family-owned halal butchers and grocery store has opened in Northampton's Wellingborough Road which is focusing its efforts on fresh produce, community spirit and a delivery service within the town.

Siblings Mansur Rahman and Shanaz Parbin, 42 and 43, who are born and bred in Northampton, have opened Ali's Bazaar after leaving their high-flying corporate jobs so they could be closer to the community and give something back.

They said: "It's our first venture. We've both worked in the corporate sector all of our lives. We wanted to do something that's more to do with the community and offer essential supplies during these challenging times. We're using the skills we picked up in the corporate world at the shop.

"In the current climate we realised there was a huge demand for essential fresh foods, with very few of these types of shops on Wellingborough Road."

The shop has also been designed to adapt to Covid safety measures, with lots of space so customers are not packed in, a very simplistic setup which is very clean and easy to maintain. Shelves are immaculately filled with big bags of rice, canned foods, fresh veg and meat.

The siblings said: "Everyone likes fresh produce so we've got in touch with our suppliers to provide daily fresh deliveries. There's definitely a market for this in the town - it's good to create a little bit of variety. It's not just for the Asian community, we have got lots of people coming in loving the fresh produce.

"We are offering a great service and are always prepared to cater for customers, so if there is something someone wants that we don't have then we will order it in for them.

"The reaction has been really good. We want everyone to come and have a look for themselves and to feel comfortable shopping here. It's just a nice experience to be open for business."

The store offers a home-delivery service around Northampton and they can be contacted on 01604 511 406.