This Saturday CombiniCo. opened its doors to St Andrews town and believe me, it was worth the wait. Located at 91 South Street this exciting new food and drink spot is more than just a lunch hang-out. We sat down with founders Alex Longson and Juno Lee to ask them about all things CombiniCo. and just what we can expect from this brand new business.
For a town so food-obsessed it’s no surprise that Alex and Juno had strong ties to St. Andrews before devising CombiniCo.; Alex graduated in June 2017 and Juno is a current third year. This store is the result of almost a year’s hard work by the pair. After speaking to them its clear to see how passionate and enthusiastic they are about their business and how excited they are to share their ethos with St Andrews.
The name CombiniCo. is derived from the Japanese “combini/konbini” which is an abbreviation for convenience store. They are an integral part of Japanese culture and are absolutely everywhere in Japan’s cities. What’s special about combinis though is that they are defined by the place they are in. As Juno tells me, no two are the same and each caters specifically to the needs of the area that they are in. This phenomenon allows these convenience stores to be truly convenient as everything you could possibly need is right there, at your fingertips and ready to go.
Having this link between store and place is at the heart of CombiniCo., where the aim is to cater to the needs of St Andrews just like the combinis in Kyoto almost 6,000 miles away. This aim allows the store to change and adapt to the ever shifting trends of St Andrews as the whole idea behind it is to serve the specific wants of the town.
The atmosphere that CombiniCo. has created is effortlessly cool with the neutral, minimalistic background of the store allowing the beautifully crafted food to do the talking. Floor to ceiling greys and whites dominate the store’s interior; this easily ensures the customer’s focus is on the vibrant products against this well-balanced, clean background.
Another aspect of the store is to not only be convenient and aesthetically pleasing, but also offer affordable, fresh food choices to people throughout the day. They are open 11am-4pm during the week and 11.30am-4.30pm on weekends. This opens up more options for the local late lunchers, students in need of afternoon brainfood and hungry tourists looking for a pre-dinner snack. The food devised by CombiniCo. has roots in Japanese and Korean cuisine and this is prevalent in the menu. The food is mainly vegan or, if not that, fish based. Alex and Juno were keen to make use of the delicious Scottish salmon available to them and it can be found either hot smoked in the Maki or sashimi in the Bini Bowls.
Right now CombiniCo. is offering three different ready-to-go meals. These range in price from the snack size Omusubi at around £3 to the sizable Maki Sushi roll portions at £4 and the heartier Bini Bowl priced just over £5. Omusubi was described to me as a “quick bite” by Juno that is basically a pyramidal rice sandwich wrapped up in seaweed with a veggie or fish filling. Bini bowls are substantial mains that either have tofu or salmon as protein with a variety of fresh veggies and fluffy sushi rice. Another thing to note is that it is card only and this is to increase the efficiency and speed of service that CombiniCo. want to provide.
In addition to stocking delicious meals CombiniCo. will also have lifestyle items for sale that are appropriate to the St Andrews area and this includes delicious teas, sodas and snacks. They also hope to introduce a “Combini Card” in the coming months where anyone can get a card and charge it up to receive exclusive discounts on food and drink. This payment/loyalty card rolled into one also allows for the store to get to know their regulars and see what the residents want and need to improve their experience.
Alex and Juno have truly achieved their goal of providing a neat and organised service that is of the highest quality, due to the best selections being made by the pair. This past weekend has shown how popular this new spot is in St Andrews. CombiniCo. sold out of food this weekend and we can confirm that it is definitely worth the hype.