Welcome to the Kennerleigh Community Shop!
We are a friendly, well-stocked village shop selling essential everyday products, locally sourced food and goods, newspapers, magazines, household goods, fruit and vegetables, an off licence, stationery, cigarettes and a Post Office.
History
The first shop in Kennerleigh was opened in the early 1940’s by a Harry Rowe from London. The shop was in one of the adjoining sheds to Garden Cottage, which is now the cottage kitchen.
In the late 1940’s a Mr and Mrs Barker from Derbyshire, with no experience in retailing, purchased Garden Cottage and moved the shop to its present building. Previously the building was a blacksmiths. In 1948 the post office was added and Mr and Mrs Barker improved the business by delivering door to door groceries, vegetables, paraffin and animal feed. Sadly with the popularity of supermarkets increasing the small village shop started to struggle and the business was sold for only £4,000.
Over the years Garden Cottage and shop was sold several times, owners Mr and Mrs Greenbank purchased the property and so did Mr and Mrs Maltby who retired to Tiverton after selling the property to Edna Hammond in 1962.
Edna with her friend Miss Florence Rowland (Cis) who was a teacher in Exeter lived at Garden Cottage and Edna ran the shop until October 1989. During her time at Kennerleigh Edna ceased selling petrol from the pumps outside the shop.
When Edna sold the shop to Sonia Andrews in October 1989 the shop and Garden Cottage was split up but Edna carried on living in the cottage until she passed away in 1994. Miss Florence Rowland died in 1985.
At the beginning of 2014 Sonia Andrews announced she wished to retire and put the shop up for sale. The community felt strongly that they didn’t want the shop to close if there was no buyer and in April that year an open meeting was held in Kennerleigh village hall which was the start of a fund raising effort to purchase the shop for the community.
After successfully raising the funds the community purchased the shop in November 2014 and is now run by the community as a community benefit society.
https://kennerleighanddistrict.btck.co.uk/
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-finder/2682222/kennerleigh
Kennerleigh Stores and Post Office Langham Lane, Kennerleigh EX17 4RS
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