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The Minute Mart is a small supermarket located in Bridge Street next to The Queen Victoria Public House. Headquartered in Birmingham, the company belongs to a supermarket chain. Known workers for the Minute Mart Head Office is: Yolande Trueman, Alistair Childs, Melissa Phillips and Harry Beckett.

At some point, before 1966, the building was owned by a man called Mr Zamansky however it’s unknown what business he was running or how long he was the owner for.

The shop was originally called 'Foodstore' and ran by Saeed Jeffery and his wife, Naima. It was renamed 'First Till Last' in 1986 following Naima's divorce to Saeed. This is until 2000 when the shop was sold to a supermarket chain and renamed the 'Minute Mart'. 

In March 2015, the Minute Mart was due to close, but on 17 March, Melissa Phillips from the Minute Mart Head Office told Shabnam Masood that the Minute Mart chain was brought out by a new parent company and would remain open. In 2018, Debbie is employed by the owner of the shop, who is unknown. The owner then stepped down.

In 2020, Suki Panesar became the owner of the lease and runs the shop, and kept Debbie employed. In 2022, She rebrands the shop from Green to Blue, against company policy. In 2023, Yolande returns and reports the rebranded shop to head office, and she’s told to rebrand it to green, however she is unable to afford it. Later in the year, She employes Christine and Priya Nandra-Hart.

Staff[]

Current[]

Owners[]

Staff[]

Past[]

Barry Evans (11 June 2001)

Barry Evans
(11 June 2001)

First Til Last[]

First Til Last was the local grocery store in Albert Square before it eventually became the Minute Mart.

Storylines[]

Saeed and Naima Jeffery were the first known owners of the grocery store in Bridge Street, Walford. It was originally called 'Foodstore', but Naima changed the name in July 1986.

In late 1985, the two owners filed for divorce and Saeed moved back to Bangladesh. After Saeed's departure, Naima remained in Walford and ran the shop on her own until her cousin, Rezaul, was sent to help her in December 1986. Naima continued to run the shop until the following year, when she remarried and also returned to Bangladesh. After Naima left England, Rezaul managed the grocery store in her place for a while. When Naima's family sold the shop to Ashraf Karim at the end of the year, Rezaul left Walford to resume his studies.

In 1988, Ashraf arrived with his wife, Sufia, and their two teenage children, eldest daughter Shireen and son Sohail. Ashraf heard that Arthur Fowler was looking for work, but was hesitant due to Arthur's recent criminal conviction for theft. Willing to give him a chance, Ashraf decided to hire Arthur shortly after taking over the shop and gave him the position of shop assistant. However, problems soon arose when Arthur offended one of their Asian customers by including a meat product in her delivery, so he was demoted to paperboy. Arthur is sacked in July that year following further complaints from customers, mainly because he was dumping the newspapers without delivering them. In June 1990, Ashraf decided that they should leave the business in the hands of his cousins and move the family to Bristol.

The shop was only seen very briefly over the next few years. Mrs. Andreos became the shopkeeper and is first seen in 1993. When her nephew, Nicos, stopped helping her at the shop after school, she employed Mandy Salter and Aidan Brosnan to stack shelves and clean up, paying them £2.00 an hour. She mentioned that she would need to check with "Mr. Papadopolous" first, implying that Andonis Papadopolous was now the current owner, possibly inheriting it from his father when he died in 1992. Not long after, Mrs. Andreos informs Mandy and Aidan that she no longer needs them as she has a family relative arriving from Greece and he will be working there instead. In May 1996, Mrs. Andreos went into semi-retirement and employed Carol Jackson to help out with the shop in the mornings.

In July 1997, it's mentioned that Mrs. Andreos had taken ownership and that she had put the shop up for sale. Neelam Kapoor bought the shop the following month. She was adamant that the shop should be run as a family business, so she told Carol Jackson, that she would no longer be required as the shop assistant. When Carol complained about the short notice, Neelam agreed to pay her a week's money in lieu. In 1998, Neelam sold the lease to Terry Raymond and left Walford to live with her extended family in Bristol.

Terry ran the shop with his wife, Irene, until July 2000 when a car crashed through the shopfront and forced its closure. It was then sold and reopened as the Minute Mart.

Staff[]

Former Owners[]

Owners/Leaseholders Year
Mr Zamansky Prior to 1966-????
Saeed Jeffery 1985
Naima Jeffery 1985-1987
Ashraf Karim 1988-1990
Sufia Karim 1988-1990
Andonis Papadopolous Prior to 1993-????
Mrs. Andreos ????-1997
Neelam Kapoor 1997-1998
Terry Raymond 1998-2000

Former Employees[]

Employee Position Year
Rezaul Kabir Shop assistant 1986-1988
Tina Hopkins Shop assistant 1987
Arthur Fowler Shop assistant, Paperboy 1988
Mrs. Andreos Shopekeeper/Manager 1993-1996
Mandy Salter Shop assistant 1993
Aidan Brosnan Shop assistant 1993
Kerry Shop assistant 1994
Robbie Jackson Paperboy;

Shop assistant

1995;

1998-????

Kevin Paperboy 1995
Carol Jackson Shop assistant 1996-1997
Mary Flaherty Shop assistant 1998
Pat Evans Shop assistant 2000
Janine Butcher Shop assistant 2000


Gallery[]

First Til Last[]

Minute Mart[]


Minute Mart (Redesigned)[]

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