Swindon town centre grocery shop moves into new store

Baraka Groceries has been based on the corner of Lagos Street and Corporation Street since 2009.

The family business's managers Shams Chowdry and Anwar Hussain have spent the last five years preparing for a major move across the road into larger purpose-built premises that would allow them to broaden the ranges and types of goods stocked and sold.

The in-store butcher at Baraka Groceries (Image: Newsquest)

They bought the site of an old car repair garage in 2018, then successfully applied for permission to demolish the derelict structure and construct a brand new three-floor building on the land.

After a £1.5 million investment in building, decorating, and stocking the new store, it officially opened earlier this month.

The ground floor of Baraka Groceries (Image: Newsquest)

Shams said: "We've been part of this community for 15 years, so all our customers know us and it feels like their own place, with a home atmosphere. They feel very proud of what we've accomplished

"We wanted to take things to a higher level, so now there's more space, more variety, it's bigger and better.

"I think it's unique, like halfway between a local corner shop and a chain store.

"It's like a one-stop shop. You can get groceries, and buy hair products, homewares, fresh fruit and veg, or order meat from our in-store butchers, all in one place.

Fish on the first floor of Baraka Groceries (Image: Newsquest)

"We want to serve all of Swindon's different communities - Afro-Caribbean, Asian, Indian - while offering mainstream products as well.

"Kids who first came to the shop in pushchairs are now customers themselves, that lasting relationship is important to us."

Beauty products on the first floor of Baraka Groceries (Image: Newsquest)

The first two floors are used for sales space while offices and storage areas fill the third. Extra parking bays near the front entrance are handy for shoppers driving into the narrow side-street.

Anwar Hussain added: "We have one of the biggest in-house butchers, the biggest variety of rice and flowers, a lot of fish on the first floor, and now stock beauty products like at Boots and Superdrug but ours are cheaper and have wider ranges."

The ground floor of Baraka Groceries (Image: Newsquest)

Shams added: "It used to be a run-down building that had been left abandoned for a while, and it wasn't worth anything, so we planned something new and purpose-built.

"It took a while to get planning permission, and Covid delayed the work, so it has been difficult, but we're very happy with the result."

The original home of Baraka Groceries (Image: Newsquest)

The new home of Baraka Groceries (Image: Newsquest)