Stories Behind the Stats: The Grumpy Goat, Reading

The Grumpy Goat, Reading

The Grumpy Goat was one of Siren's first ever customers, and will pretty much have stocked every beer we've ever put into small pack since day one. Along with being a crucial pillar in the Reading beer scene for a long time, Anne-Marie and Charlie also went on to found Craft Theory, which they've successfully grown into a festival showcasing breweries from all over Europe and attracting visitors to the town from far and wide. We caught up with Anne-Marie to get an idea of the situation facing independent bottle shops.

Tell us about who you are...

We are The Grumpy Goat, beer, cheese and spirit shop in Reading town centre. We were established in 2013 and have grown from strength to strength with massive support from our awesome customers and suppliers.

What's happened since this all kick off?

The pandemic has turned our business into a delivery only service, which is strange as deliveries are usually a smaller part of our business as we are used to serving people face to face in our shop.

What have you done to adapt?

I think we decided to take action pretty quickly as we realised how important it was to adapt our business in order to keep our customers, our staff and ourselves safe. Under government guidelines we are technically still allowed to let customers into the shop but in the interests of public health we feel that a contact less delivery service is our best option at the moment.

What's inspired you during this time?

There have been so many inspiring moments over this period. Seeing communities coming together has to be one of the biggest things. On a business level it has been overwhelming how absolutely brilliant our customers have been, seeing how they care and seeing how much they really want to try and support us in any way they can... because they want us to survive and be there on the other side. We've also loved seeing all of the window art/ picture in support of our NHS and clapping with our neighbours on a Thursday evening.

What's the light at the end of the tunnel for you?

Post-corona we're looking forward to welcoming customers old and new back into the shop so we can chat about their week and decide which pairing of beer and cheese they are in the mood for.

You can check out The Grumpy Goat and order some delicious cheeses here: thegrumpygoat.co.uk

See the rest of the Stories Behind The Stats here: sirencraftbrew.com/stories