Favourite ‘wors shop’ still going strong
LALL Bridgmohan, 71, does not mind being referred to as “The Flower Uncle by the Church Walk Market”.
He has instead embraced the nickname, which has been coined by customers, labelling it a fantastic marketing tool for his business.
First, potential customers would know he sells flowers. Second, they would know where he is based, making their job of finding him somewhat easier.
When a POST team arrives, Bridgmohan is found chatting to customers at Lall’s Fresh Flowers.
Employees Herman Chocho prepares a flower basket with speed and accuracy, while Thabani Mkhize is kept busy with a bridal bouquet.
The business, which has been in the family for 80 years, says Bridgmohan, is still going strong.
“My dad and his four brothers started the business in Soilder’s Way called Ram Brothers Florist and it ran for 50 years. They loved their flowers,” said the Isipingo Hills resident.
Ram was their surname, explained Bridgmohan, adding that he used his father’s first name as his surname as was often done back then.
“When I was small, I would help transport the flowers, after it was offloaded from a train from Johannesburg, to the business on a wheelbarrow,” he recalled, adding that as the years passed, his uncles had died leaving his dad behind.
His father, Bridgmohan Ram, had later renamed the business Ram’s Florist. “He continued with the business and later moved it here to the Church Walk Market. He operated here until his death 20 years ago at the age of 68.”
Bridgmohan said his sibling had also died and he had therefore taken over the family business.
“Although I was a food technologist and had been working in the research and development department for National Brand at Howard College Campus (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal), I had always harboured a passion for flowers and for 30 years, I have been living my passion.”
After taking over the shop, he renamed it Lall’s Flower Shop and with the assistance of his wife, Jojo, 68, they have been providing customers with beautifully decorated bouquets for all occasions ranging in price from R100 to R500.
With the tough economic climate, business, he says, is not what it used to be.
“Back in the day, customers forked out money on arrangements. Nowadays, they are not easily willing to spend R300. They are looking for the R100 stuff. We appreciate it but business is not like then.”
Despite this, he says, they have no intention of closing shop.
“My wife and I have a love for flowers. We may both be old but we will never sit at home. We’d rather be out here helping our workers design the baskets or chatting to our customers. It keeps us going and seeing the creations gives us so much joy.”
Bridgmohan gets his flowers from his son Vaniel’s flower shop in Nandi Drive.
“My son opened his own wholesale business and supplies fresh flowers to all the suppliers in the area.”
When questioned about the future of his business, he laments: “I cannot answer this. It is a question I have on my mind every night before I go to sleep.
“My two other children are not in Durban, one is a charted accountant and the other is overseas working as a mechanical engineer and Vaniel has his own shop and commitments.
“My grandchildren are too young and, unfortunately, I cannot see anyone coming into this business but I would love for it to reach 100 years.” WHEN Simeel Lachman received the gift of a takeaway stall as his 21st birthday gift, he did not realise how popular the fast food eatery would become.
Now, 22 years later, Lachman, of Clare Estate, says he is grateful to his parents, Pritham and Shakun, for setting him up in business.
“This is my livelihood. It’s my bread and butter,” said the 43-year-old, who is single.
Customers have described the wors rolls at The Hungry Hut, which is commonly referred to as “The Wors Shop”, as the best, he beamed.
Reflecting on how his parents got the stall at the market, he said: “My parents had a business but lost it when I was a teenager.
“So we went through a rough patch until my mom began cooking and selling her food here at the market in 1992 and three years later, she and my dad, Pritham, handed it over to me.”
After he matriculated, he studied hotel management at Technikon Natal (now DUT) but due to a lack of finance, he dropped out after his first year.
“Despite not completing my studies, I feel I have achieved all I have through the stall. This is my parents’ greatest blessing to me,” he said, pointing at the eatery.
The area, he admits, has become infested with petty crime and it has prevented possible customers from visiting the market.
“It’s more dangerous now and stallholders are closing shop for fear of their safety. This affects our business. We need safety measures in place.”
Lachman said other than feeding hungry customers for the past 20 years, he has been filling the bellies of about 160 homeless people every day near the City Hall.
“When I look at those who are homeless, I think of the rough patch we went through. It may not have been as bad but I want to do everything I can to help others.
“Sometimes we serve kitchari, sometimes mixed vegetable curries and I try to give (the homeless) meat dishes at least twice a week.”
His brother, Nerosh, is also in the food business having taken over their aunt’s food stall next to The Hungry Hut.
Lachman said his dad died 18 years ago, at the age of 72, and his mother, who is 72, still lent a helping hand at the stall.