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Steven Salamon and his mother, Laraine Salamon
Mae Ballantyne, Richard Ballantyne
& Charlotte Ballantyne
(Ballantyne's Wines)
Matthew Bosanquet and
Lynne Bosanquet
Alex Kalebic (Cooke & Arkwright)
& Richella Dee
Erika Chapell & Phillip Chapell (Builders)
David Gerson and Lisa Gerson
Sharon Owen and Andrew Owen
Steve Sharon Owen and Andrew Owen e Jenkins, Corrine Salamon, Tina Jenkins and Jemma Friday
Steven Salamon and his wife, Corrine Salamon
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Steven Salamon, owner of Wally’s talks to City Life about his passion for the family business founded over 25 years ago.
HEALTHY APPETITE
Wally’s was founded by my father, Wally Salamon, in 1981. However, the origins of the shop go back much further, to pre-war Austria in fact! My Polish born grandfather ran a general store in a small village near Vienna.
Having worked in a factory for eight years to accumulate capital and learn the language, he decided to open a food store in 1947 in Cardiff’s Bridge Street (now where the new St. David’s 2 development is sited).
My father and his brother, Otto, joined their father in the shop when they left school at the age of fourteen. They continued to run the business together after their father died in 1963 until redevelopment of the area in 1981 forced them to find a new location. At this point the brothers separated and Wally opened Wally’s Delicatessen in Royal Arcade in 1981 with my mother, Laraine.
I came into the business in 1993 after first having qualified as a Chartered Accountant and worked for the UK’s largest firm of accountants in London and then an Investment Bank in Cardiff. Following redundancy I decided the time was right to join the family business. My wife Corrine also started working part-time in the shop at this time.
The shop came into my ownership in 1995 and my father and I continued working together until his death last year. We have three members of staff who have been with Wally’s since it started in 1981. David Pike, the shop manager, in fact started working for my father in the former shop in Bridge Street as a 14 year old on Saturdays.
He went full time at sixteen and is still with us even now aged in his early fifties. David’s wife, Tricia, also started at Wally’s in 1981 as did David Richards, who started at the same age. Now, two of my children, Ben and Natalie, also work with me on Saturday’s, so it’s truly a family business.
Who are your customers?
From the earliest days our customers were Eastern European immigrants. Many of them had come to Wales as refugees to work in the coal mines, factories and mills in the post war redevelopment stage. Responding to their needs the shop soon started selling and specialising in Polish cooked meats and pickles, Hungarian salami, German hams and sausages, European breads, etc. The shop soon established a reputation for its European products, many of which had never been seen in this part of the country.
Over the years the continental influence has remained high and we have seen second and even third generation customers, many of whom began coming as children and now bring their own children. Many have become firm friends with the staff and feel very affectionate towards the business. In more recent years though the emphasis shifted away from Eastern Europe to Western Europe, with a great many of our customers now heralding from Spain, Greece, Italy.
All the while the local customers have been coming to Wally’s in increasing numbers and have grown to love the products we sell. This has been largely down to the increase in overseas travel and the number of cookery books and TV programmes now available. Our customers come from far and wide to shop with us and we see daily customers, weekly customers and the more occasional customers who all make it their business to shop with us regularly. In the last few years we have developed an online business also so we now have thousands of customers around the country who shop with us and whom we have never even met!
Why do they shop at Wally’s?
Our customers traditionally shopped with Wally’s because it was the only place they could find what they wanted. As the availability of products has become more widespread our customers still shop with us because they can find everything they need in one shop. Our customers like the atmosphere of Wally’s. They like the quality of products and they like the personal, old-fashioned service. They like the familiarality of faces and the continuity of the family business. They like the whole shopping experience that coming into Wally’s provides.
What do you stock?
Our specialism has always been in continental cooked and cured meats, hams and salamis. However our fresh delicatessen counter also provides a wide range of continental cheeses and olives. We also stock a wide range of ambient products, from nuts and dried fruits, to mueslis, to herbs and spices, to ethnic foods, wines and spirits, teas and coffees, olive oils and vinegars, breads and flours, cakes and biscuits. South African products.
Any new developments?
In June 2009 we opened a new extension with the acquisition of the adjoining premises. The extra floor space will more than double the sales area. The extension has been fitted out to the highest standards and has been designed to provide an updated version of the old Wally’s, whilst still maintaining the charm and character of the original business. The extra space will allow us to get into lots of product areas that previously we did not have the space for.
We have an enlarged delicatessen counter, a large walk around olive bar, a new wines department, a take-away lunchtime food offering, Italian Gelati, loose teas and coffees, a range of artisan breads. There will generally be more space for customers to browse and better displays of products.
Are you planning anything special for Christmas?
Christmas has always been a magical time for us at Wally’s. The shop will be decorated with an abundance of seasonal specialities, such as Italian Pannetone, German Stollen, Spanish and Italian Torrone, German Lebkuchen, Gingerbread houses, Spanish confectionary and Belgium chocolates.
What are your hopes for 2010?
We want to consolidate the new extension into the overall business and make sure we make good use of the extra selling space. We would really love to become specialists in the new product areas.
Finally, we have a desire to open a Wally’s Coffee Shop, utilising the fantastic range of products that we have in the shop
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