St Helena Shops

Looking down toward the market with Rose and Crown and Thorpes on the Left

The Rose and Crown sells everything from Washing machines to fine wines!

Solomons DIY and Warrens stores on the left

St Helena Post Office which used to be accommodation for the military in Napoleon's day

One thing which hasn’t changed much over the past three years which I have been here are the shops.  Well the outward appearance at least.  Inside I must confess that there are signs of more choice, especially with items which might not perish in our warm temperatures here. 
McVities Chocolate biscuits and Gingernuts have been very thin on the ground but recently we are seeing good supplies of them albeit at around 30% more than the UK prices. 
Buying anything perishable is a lottery anywhere in the world.....but buying perishables which have to sit in the hold of a ship for up to 8 weeks is even more so.  The local food stores do their utmost to keep up with demand and seasons but with only one ship a month its touch and go.  One year the Easter Egg delivery arrived in July! 

Because of this and the small population here, shops have a hard time making a good profit, just like the hospitality sector, they suffer from low customer numbers, many of whom have a very low income.  This will obviously change with the times although I think its going to take another year or so. 

Outside, the shop appearances could be mistaken for something from another era with many of them taking the names of pubs for some reason.  In Jamestown there are three main “supermarkets” The Star, The Rose and Crown and the Queen Mary.  There is also a DIY store which has a trade section at the back to assist the many building projects going on at the moment. 

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The Star is probably the biggest supermarket on the island

Plenty of Laundry items!

Inside the Star

Milk is all long life as you can see from the shelves here

Thorpes store which has a sister store across the road selling cooked meats, cheese and frozen items

The Queen Mary sells just about anything, cheese and meat, wrapping paper, copper pipe, even glass for windows

Inside Thorpes

Fresh Fruit from South Africa for sale at the Queen Mary

We also have one food store which specialises in health food items and UK branded products such as Yorkshire Tea and Wessex mill bread flour.

Out of town there are dozens of small stores which look after those who don’t want the trek down ladder hill to Jamestown.  These are usually people’s homes and so unless you know where to find it, you can drive right past! 

Fresh vegetables, meat and fish are purchased in the local market which is looking forward to a massive face lift over the next few months in the form of new shopping area with new lighting and refrigeration.

One of the big advantages of shopping on St Helena is that all parking on the island is currently free!  How long this is going to carry on for who knows. 
Disadvantages include the fact that sometimes we run out of things and the time to get something sent from the UK is in the region of 6 to 8 weeks.  This is especially difficult when thinking about car parts as there is probably one of every car in Britain on this island.....Oh we have no Mercedes yet!

St Helena Jamestown Market

Inside the Market

The Growers is where we buy local fruit and vegetables

Debbie Williams, my hairdresser, who has her salon in the Market

One of the most colourful shop fronts, note the guitars for sale in the window

The Emporium sells hardware and stationary amongst other things!

A side street in Jamestown with small shop

Small clothes store in Jamestown