I had lunch yesterday at Berry Bros. & Rudd which, rather amazingly, was founded in its current premises at 3, St. James’s Street in 1698 by the widow Bourne to supply coffee to the neighbouring coffee houses, as well as the Court. It began by selling groceries of all sorts and continues to trade under the ‘Sign of the Coffee Mill’, but graduated into selling mainly wine under the aegis of George Berry who started working for the firm in 1803. In the 1840s, it was the home of the Texas Legation which rented space upstairs. Now they own a stake in the Anchor Steam Brewery:-
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
Fascinating. Is there any London shop with a longer history ?
Yes Locks I think is a bit older. And I recall going to a noodle shop in Kyoto that was over 500 years old. Where I wonder is the worlds oldest shop?
Glad you enjoyed lunch, Charles!
Locks is indeed older than us – founded 1676, from memory. But they only moved to their present site in the 1760s, so the paint’s still wet in comparison…!
I’m sure there are older shops though – Balsons, the butchers in Bridport, for example.
I definitely did ! I see Balson’s was founded in 1515. Hard to beat that. Charles