Algerian Coffee Stores

Algerian Coffee Stores has traded from the same address, 52 Old Compton Street in Soho, since 1887, putting it among the oldest continuously operating specialty shops on a London high street that has changed character many times over in the intervening century and a half. The current range runs through single-origin coffees from Central and South America, India, Africa and Indonesia, sold alongside the shop's own house blends, and a tea selection that stretches from everyday varieties to specialty and harder-to-find lots sourced from small growing regions. Beyond the two core categories, the shop carries specialty confectionery and cocoa products, plus domestic coffee makers and brewing accessories for anyone setting up at home. The business has stayed in the hands of the same family across multiple generations, and the roasting still happens on-site rather than through an outside supplier, which is a large part of what has kept regulars coming back to one shopfront rather than a chain with multiple branches. Now well past its 137th year in Soho, the shop runs an online store and newsletter alongside the physical counter, extending a nineteenth-century retail model - small-batch roasting, direct relationships with regulars, sourcing from small corners of the world rather than mass suppliers - into a modern retail footprint without changing the format underneath it.