The shopkeeper and his cat who turned a corner shop into a community hub
Abdul Safy and Mimi have become local and social media celebrities, their companionship striking a chord with people around the world
Fleet Food and Wine in Belsize Park, north London, looks a lot like any other corner shop. A large yellow CCTV sign is displayed by the entrance, next to small ads and children’s drawings. Inside, shelves are lined with everyday essentials and a handwritten note promoting owner Abdul Safy’s £1 homemade tea.
But this small business has built a reputation far beyond the streets of north London. Instagram videos of Safy’s black cat Mimi prowling the aisles, demanding tuna and greeting customers have brought the duo millions of views across the world.
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Safy says people have travelled from all over to meet them. One family drove from Barnsley after seeing the pair online, while others have made the trip from Canada and Texas. Asked why he thinks they have captured the hearts of so many people, Safy says: “We come as a pair, I think that’s what people like. They won’t like Mimi without me and they won’t like me without Mimi.”
When I arrive, Mimi is nowhere to be seen. As Safy and I chat across the till, a customer overhears and laughs: “Is he talking about the cat again?” she asks.
A few minutes later, Safy spots Mimi outside and goes to hold the door open for “the boss”. She wanders in and hops onto the counter as though she’s just clocking in for a shift. Safy opens a can of tuna.
“She eats more tuna than a cow eats grass,” he says.
Mimi first wandered into the shop in 2021 after Safy’s neighbour rescued her as a kitten from Greece. She began stopping by each day before eventually making herself at home. When the neighbours moved away, they left her with him. “They said, ‘Mimi is yours’,” Safy recalls.
Since then, the pair have become inseparable. Their companionship has struck a chord with people both on and offline, with followers describing the videos as a much needed dose of joy and comfort.
“Watching you Abdul takes the stress out of our lives and seeing how you feel about Mimi brings kindness to all the cruelty we see,” reads one comment.
Safy rarely gets through more than a few sentences during our conversation before another customer interrupts to say hello. He greets regulars by name, asking about their families, slipping between politics and light-hearted banter. Despite Mimi’s popularity, it soon becomes clear what draws locals to Fleet Food and Wine.
“This can feel more like a community centre than a shop,” Safy says, adding that this is what he always intended for his business.
“If you’re not connecting with people and building a community, then you’re not succeeding. People need to trust you.”
Safy grew up in north-west Pakistan before moving to the UK 29 years ago. He ran a fish and chip shop in north London with a friend before taking over Fleet Food and Wine in 2008. He recalls always feeling welcomed in London. “If you need help, any stranger will just walk up to you to say ‘are you OK’? Even if they don’t speak English, they will try to communicate in a different language but they will make sure that they will come and help you,” he says. “I think London itself is a community.”
Parents ask Safy to keep an eye on their children while they do their shopping and people who can’t afford items such as bread and milk are told to pay another day. When burglars tried to break in earlier this year, more than 20 neighbours came running to stop them. Safy adds that police have even asked him to help settle minor disagreements between neighbours because he knows the community so well. “I think this is the best trust you can get from people,” he says.
Recently, a nearby primary school asked pupils to draw their favourite building in the neighbourhood. Several chose Fleet Food and Wine. The drawings hang proudly on the shop’s front window.
Charles White, who has lived in the area for nearly two years, says there are four corner shops within walking distance of his home.
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“This is the only one I use,” he says. “I know I’m going to leave laughing. It sounds like such a cliche but genuinely, he does actually put a smile on my face. Not to mention Mimi.”
White believes spaces like Fleet Food and Wine have become increasingly rare as more people shop online and supermarkets install more self-checkouts.
“We’re all guilty of it, especially post-Covid. I leave a shop like Tesco sometimes and I think, I see that same worker all the time but we don’t really look at each other. Abdul is actively making this community better rather than just trying not to make it any worse,” he adds.
John Kitching, another long-time customer who has lived locally for almost 27 years, agrees, saying that he checks in with Safy multiple times a week, often leaving with purchases he never even intended to make.
“I didn’t want this,” he says, holding up a drink. “I just came to see Abdul.”
After nearly 20 years behind the counter, Safy says hearing this never gets old. “From the beginning I’ve always had this touch,” he says. “Over time, it’s just become like a family. I have friends here.”
