5:13pm Thursday 14th January 2010
By Richard Garfield
ANYONE popping into Buckleys for a coffee on Saturday could end up with more than they bargained for.
The coffee shop in London Street, Basingstoke, is open for business as usual, but upstairs it is selling off surplus catering equipment, including crockery, cutlery, glass es, photographs, prints and even furnishings.
Until recently, the premises were leased to Galletto but, following the closure of the Italian restaurant, the building’s owner, Tom Buckley, has opened up a coffee shop.
Rather than having an empty shop front, Tom quickly got into action, opening the for mer restaurant as a coffee shop.
He said: “When Galletto’s sadly closed, with some friends and colleagues, we have given the place a lick of paint, got a coffee machine and some tables and chairs.
“I’ve looked around Basingstoke and there are an awful lot of empty units and I didn’t want this to go that way. I was advised by sev eral people not to let it get in that state.”
Tom is still not certain what the long-term future is of the premises.
“There are plans afoot – I’ve got a couple of people who are interested in picking it up and running with it,” said Tom. “If the coffee shop takes off, then it might stay open as a coffee shop.
“We opened for business at the beginning of December and the first couple of weeks were quiet, and then we started getting our regu lars and were building up quite a rapport with them.Then we had Christmas and New Year and the snow, but things are picking up again.”
The sale starts at 10am on Saturday and will continue next week until everything is sold.
“This won’t affect the downstairs – we’re not selling the tables and chairs from under the customers,” said Tom.
“It would have been a shame to chuck every thing out because there is some lovely memo rabilia here, and one man’s rubbish is anoth er man’s treasure.”
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