Beepa and Lulu’s will be expanding its business to include a small country store in the restaurant.
“We have a section of the building that was not really being used,” said Lisa Sullivan, who co-owns and runs the restaurant with her husband, Bret, both lifelong Monadnock Region residents. “We were trying to find different ideas to utilize the space, and it just kind of came up in conversation.”
Beepa and Lulu’s, which opened in June 2020, currently serves breakfast and lunch most days of the week at 180 Concord St. in Peterborough. The unused space is to the right of the door as patrons enter, a space that did not have seating and remained empty. Sullivan said that they had previously considered having a to-go sandwich station in this area, but the idea was too labor-intensive based on their current business model.
Now with the store there, Sullivan said she hopes people will use it as something to do while waiting for a table when the restaurant is busy, or just patronize the shop all on its own. With the restaurant drawing an estimated 1,000 customers a week, according to Sullivan, there will be plenty of opportunity for customers to browse.
“What we try to do is set ourselves apart from everybody else,” she said. As such, she said the store will sell “unique and fun” items.
Sullivan said that in particular, sourcing items from local artisans was very important to them, because they wanted to support local business as much as possible.
“This community means a lot to us,” Sullivan said of herself and her husband. “I want people to know how much we care about the community, and everything we do is trying to keep our community in mind.”
The store is not fully stocked yet, but Sullivan said that she hopes it will be by the end of the week, ideally in time for Valentine’s Day, as some types of candies will be coming in. Currently, the store has items such as candles, tea and herb blends, jams and jellies, soaps and lotions and hand-knit cowl necks.
“It’s just so unique,” Sullivan said. “I want people to be able to come to a place where it’s different; they’re not going to find it in every shop.”