7am to 10pm. Monday to Sundays. 24 Hours a day. Family Business. No Risk, no Reward. No Sleep, No Rest, Family first, No alternative.
Enter the Lifestyle of a Shop Keeper. Customers first, Customers always right.
Less Time for "hobbies". Family first. Family always right.
Still time for family functions, linkups and holidays. 24 Hours in a day, using them correctly, efficient - No distractions.
Shop. Sleep. Party. Repeat.
For what, For who?
A better life, yeah defo. Something you can call your own? yeah defo.
Be part of the community and serve? Unintentionally, yes.
Unintentionally this shop became the hub. For the Saturday Semi pro footballers coming to get their beers for that Saturday late night session. The families who lived locally to have a chat and shoulder to lean on, find escapism. The older crew who had nothing to do, so sometimes just drank, drank themselves senseless, until Dad supported them, gave them jobs around the shop, gave them back some pride, some purpose, something to do rather than drink themselves to the ground.
Then there was the hairdressers coming in for their weekly lottery tickets. B&H 20 and a cheeky little chat.
The groups of mates, on a night out coming to get their Lambrini and Stella. Snacks and Fry up gear for the next day lay in.
The local Wimpy shop's son, dropping off some free burgers and fries, cos we helped them out, so they helped us out, but also because this little shop, was where the community all seemed to hang out.
There was a flurry of shops on the high street, supermarkets too. So why did they always come back to Londis, why this shop, why our shop?
This shop, run by 2 South Asian brothers from Southall, from the place they all avoided.
Cos this wasn't a shop, not really, this was a space, a space where my Dad, and my Thai (Uncle) made people feel at home, feel comfortable and feel... heard.
There was an energy, you couldn't explain.
There was an energy, you couldn't really define.
There was an energy, you couldn't ever forget.
It was probably the first space, I ever experienced, where walls, ceilings and floors, didn't seem to actually exist.
And probably why some 30 years later, the idea of a space and what a space should be, had finally made some sense... enter the lifestyle of a former shopkeepers son.... where these 4 words mean more to him, and the lifestyle he is passionate about more than any product or piece he sells or makes.
"Less Walls, More Spaces"