Having started out as a small operation in the 1980s, the British store Stonemanor has become a mecca for expats and locals alike. But how has it fared in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum?
The family-run business was founded when Roger George was invited to the British School of Brussels' Christmas bazaar. He went to the UK and packed his car with tuck shop goods – British biscuits, crisps, and sweets that were unavailable in Belgium. He sold out in 15 minutes. When it proved successful the following year, he saw an opportunity.
He decided to run a small home delivery service out of his basement. But a surge in popularity quickly demonstrated the need for a proper store. The first shop was established in Everberg in 1982 – the central hub for British expats at the time. Located on Steenhofstraat (literally 'stone road' in Dutch), he named it Stonemanor.
The unique shop building was formerly a dairy farm. In 2007, a second smaller shop was set up in the centre of Waterloo. This moved to larger premises in 2015. "The initial vision was never to be a big supermarket, but the business grew exponentially," Ryan Pearce, the store manager and founder's grandson, tells The Brussels Times.
Ryan Pearce, the Stonemanor manager. Credit: Stonemanor
Following in his grandfather's footsteps, Pearce began working on the UK side of the business in 2013 after graduating from university. "No two days are the same," he says.
He particularly enjoys the Stonemanor events, such as the annual summer garden party, run with the Brussels British Community Association. Starting with a celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the success was repeated for the Platinum Jubilee in 2022, and King Charles III's coronation last year. Another party was thrown in May this year, unrelated to the royals, which proved "even more popular than last year's, with up to 1,000 visitors," Pearce enthuses.
The team also partners with Serve the City and holds annual second-hand English book sales at the Everberg store in June and September to raise money for the Brussels-based charity (the next edition is on Saturday 21 September).
Stonemanor also marks other calendar fixtures. At Halloween, there's face-painting and for Christmas children can visit Father Christmas at the grotto. "It's not like a normal supermarket layout; it lends itself to events," Pearce says.
Halloween decorations and stacks of Christmas puddings, crackers and mince pies. Credit: Stonemanor
The road to recovery
But like many other businesses, the Brexit vote in 2016 posed an existential threat to Stonemanor's business model. In early 2021, the store was forced to close its doors for three weeks due to stock shortages.
"When Brexit first came around, we had to close our doors for the first time in 42 years. There was no movement of goods across any border, so we had zero stock available," Pearce says. "We stockpiled at the end of 2020 as we anticipated delays and changes in supply and we lasted until February. We then received a small delivery of chilled meats from Ireland. But word got around and within three days we were empty again. We have about 5,000 different items in stock at any one time, and the shelves were bare."
But despite the difficulties, Stonemanor made a remarkable recovery and has been at 100% capacity again for the past two years. The business quickly established a safety net of suppliers via Ireland and now sources 80% of its stock from the Emerald Isle.
This doesn't necessarily mean the goods are Irish, Pearce clarifies: "All the big British brands people know and love us for – Cadbury's chocolate, Walkers crisps, Cheerios and Shreddies – come from Ireland."
Naturally, Irish produce has also increased, but only from about 10% pre-Brexit to 30-35% now. "We had Irish products in store before Brexit because there is a big Irish community in Brussels."
Chilled goods have always taken pride of place, as the Everberg store has the "largest chilled availability of any British store in continental Northern Europe." But this has been most difficult to sustain, as the risk of shipping chilled goods with a shelf life of two to three days is too high. "If shipments are delayed by even 24 hours, we risk throwing away up to £10,000 of stock. The recovery time on that would be four to six months. It's not cost-effective and we are not willing to take that risk."
Pearce acknowledges that revenue has been lost as a result: popular products like fresh pork pies and Cravendale milk are no longer available and the cheese range has reduced significantly. But a new chilled range has proved successful: "The bacon and sausages from Ireland have been more popular than the British ones. And I personally think the bacon is far superior to British bacon," Pearce notes.
Prices have increased, but this is more a hangover of Covid-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine rather than Brexit. Pearce points to the rising costs of energy and raw materials used for manufacturing.
Footfall has also decreased somewhat and the ratio of British customers has been steadily declining for the past eight years. But with this has come a more diverse customer base, particularly of Belgians, Americans and Irish people. "This is a good thing because we are not as reliant on the British expat market as we used to be."
Big city life?
Looking to the future, Pearce is interested in expanding to Brussels. There were plans lined up for a store in the capital, but it came at the wrong time of year and was put on hold. Though with rules on cars and emissions tightening in the next few years, the clock is ticking. "People may not have access to cars in five years' time. They're not going to come to us so we have to plan ahead."
If a convenience store in Brussels proves popular, Stonemanor may also look to Antwerp and Ghent as well. "We have never had a city centre store, so it will be new territory for us," Pearce concludes.
