Suki Asian Shop Open – Winchester Road, Chandler’s Ford

Today I visited the newly opened Suki Asian Shop on Winchester Road. I’m quite impressed.

I asked the young lady Annabelle what ‘Suki’ meant. She told me it meant ‘customers’ in the Philippines. She told me her mum Jemelle ran the shop.

The shop opened on the 21st of June. The opening hours:

• Monday – Saturday 9am -7pm
• Sunday 10am – 4 pm

It was only a quick visit today. I spent about £30, but didn’t have cash with me. They were not able to receive card payment today – understandable as the business is still new. They trusted me to walk out of the shop without paying, so I came home and transferred the money to them afterwards. In a way, I quite like this old-fashioned way of doing business. They used a calculator to work out the total cost, double checked the figure, and wrote down the sum on a piece of paper with their bank detail for me.

They really showed goodwill and trust.

The shop has many essential items that I love. The key thing is, they have a variety of rice, including my favourite – Fragrant Jasmine rice. I was surprised to see Pandan Leaves in the freezer. The leaves are such a delight! I also bought some tinned fruits (rambutan and lychees), a pack of prata bread, and some Japanese snacks.

How did Suki start?

Jemelle told me that it started off by a group of Filipino friends, who decided to open an Asian shop in Chandler’s Ford. Jemelle and Annabelle are full time workers (as a chef and a nurse) who have found a passion in business for Asian products.

“This business partnership goal is to provide products for locals who have missed the food and ingredients needed from their home countries that they enjoy most.”

Jemelle said,

We also provide products for all local community who loves foreign goodies/product that is not known to local community. We hope that the local community in Chandler’s Ford and Eastleigh will embrace and support us in our small business.

We hope to provide products that is in best quality and loved by our customers. So if you are looking for a specific product that we are not selling currently please tell the cashier on the day and we will do our best to see if we can find and buy it for our customers.

Thank you and God bless.

It’s important that we support small businesses in our community. Welcome Suki! I feel that this shop has a lot of potential. I no longer need to travel to Southampton or Winchester for oriental ingredients now.

I wish Suki Asian Shop all the best.

Where is the shop located?

PS Some people asked me the exact location of the shop. It’s opposite to the Chandler’s Ford Methodist Shop.

Did anybody remember the business which used to occupy this space before?