Lakia’s Variety Store – Best of Eleuthera

Lakia’s Variety Store in Palmetto Point -another hidden treasure I want you all to know about in my Best of Eleuthera series……

Lakia's Variety store Plametto Point
Lakia’s Variety store Plametto Point

Run by Lorraine Thompson and open since 23rd March 2006 it is named after one of her 4 daughters. Don’t you think it’s great the way Lorraine wrote the date in the cement of the step at the back of the shop !!

Never forget when you opened !
Never forget when you opened !

To find the shop from Governors Harbour take Queens Highway heading south to Palmetto Point. Turn left onto what is laughingly called I95 !! – it is the first road on the left after Unique Building Supplies – just before the first gas station in PP – follow this road until you see the I95 Sports Bar on your right hand side – it is on a corner – tun right here and Lakia’s store is there on the left…… Easier to find than I make it sound !

Sorry Lorraine this photo does not do you justice !
Sorry Lorraine this photo does not do you justice !

I love this shop because it has a great selection of fruit and vegetables – very useful when I am doing juices and smoothies. It looks very ordinary from the outside but a close look round inside reveals all sorts of goodies !

Love those green apples - so good in juice
Love those green apples – so good in juice

Lorraine and her husband Wayde – he is the manager at the Ministry of Works in the south of the island – have their 2 elder daughters in medical school in Jamaica. The elder one is training to be a doctor and the younger one is training to be a nurse, so both parents are driven to make a success of the business to help finance the girls’ education. They listen to what people tell them they want and they respond. With the coming of VAT and the new computerized systems like many stores they find queues quickly build up at peak times to pay – but Lorraine has already instigated getting a second express till – so helpful if you only have a couple of items to pay for. A step forward that many other stores need to pay attention to.

Daughters Lakia and Laquay with niece Carlia
Daughters Lakia and Laquay with niece Carlia

All the girls help out in the store – the elder 2 when they are back at home and the younger 2 after school and at weekends. The shop has long hours filling a need for both the local community in Palmetto Point and people from further afield who know they can rely on the shop being open – 6am – 9pm Monday to Saturday and 6am – 11am and then 3pm until late on Sundays……

Oh yes please ! Homemade cookies and cake ....
Oh yes please ! Homemade cookies and cake ….

Lorraine’s sister Paula Pinder runs the deli adjoining the main shop and bakes wonderful cookies and cakes that are sold there. Chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, carrot cake and banana bread were just some of the items I had to sample in the name of research !! believe that and you will believe anything !

Also sorry to Paula - this photo does not do you justice either !
Also sorry to Paula – this photo does not do you justice either !

In the deli they always have a special dish of the day for lunch and dinner if you feel like a takeout. Paula will also make to order fresh coleslaw and macaroni cheese – yummy ! Oh and pizzas as well !

This is a prime example of a really good local business that deserves to succeed – please support it when you can.

A selection of what I bought this week.....
A selection of what I bought this week…..

Here is a selection of what I bought this week….  Lovely big onions from Long Island. Fresh asparagus – so tasty when lightly cooked and then doused in butter and lemon juice. I eat this on it’s own but it is delicious when added to a salad or in a risotto.

Lovely fresh asparagus
Lovely fresh asparagus
Selection of this week's fresh produce prices
Selection of this week’s fresh produce prices

 

 

4 thoughts on “Lakia’s Variety Store – Best of Eleuthera”

  1. Me husband and I discovered this gem by accident in 2012 and were so glad.
    The home made goodies are great and they carry thngs other places do not. Add this place to your list.

  2. Me husband and I discovered this gem by accident in 2012 and were so glad.
    The home made goodies are great and they carry things other places do not. Add this place to your list.

  3. I can endorse Kathy’s remarks – we (well, mainly Claire) shop there a lot, especially when we cannot face the line at Burrows. And the personnel are always friendly. I remember some great avocados back late december.

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Kathy Colman

Writer, Interior Designer, Foodie, and Wife to Bob. Living in Eleuthera, Bahamas

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