Popular Brighton wine shop to be evicted as Co-op expands

By Hamish Graham

Published: 09 July, 2025

Independent wine shop Seven Cellars in the Seven Dials neighbourhood of Brighton has been given an eviction date of 26th November by the Co-op. The date lands at the start of festive trading period, as the national retailer seeks to expand an existing store.

Speaking to Harpers, owner Louise Oliver (pictured, right) laid out her frustrations regarding a lack of transparency from the retailer regarding the eviction process.

She explained: “The Co-op bought our overarching lease around three or four years ago. The first I heard about it was a letter saying you pay rent to the Co-op now and it was quite a shock.”

Soon after the purchase of the lease, the retailer informed Oliver as well as neighbouring Portuguese café deli, Latina, that both businesses would need to leave their premises at the end of their lease at the end of 2025.

The shop has become a popular spot for wine lovers in Brighton over the past 10 years. Responding to the shock announcement, Oliver set up a petition in 2022, which at present has almost 12,000 signatures.

Oliver explained that after the petition, there was little communication from the Co-op regarding what would happen next. That was until a few weeks ago when Seven Cellars and Latina received an eviction notice dated 26th November.

Oliver explained that there had been communications from the Co-op including in a response to a letter from local MP Siân Berry, that the businesses may be able to trade at the site until January, hence the eviction notice’s date came as a surprise.

She added: “It’s legal but morally not very nice.”

Seven Cellars will need to move from the existing site, which was first built in 1841, and find a new premises for the wine shop.

Keeping the details under wraps until more was confirmed, Oliver explained that she hoped to open Seven Cellars at a new site in the same neighbourhood: “It’s been a great place to have a shop, it’s very vibrant.”

You can find the petition by visiting the following link.

The Co-op have since reached out for comment, with a spokesperson adding: “The leases in place that the tenants entered into are being fully honoured, and they are now coming towards an end.

“Co-op is committed to acting fairly, and is willing to grant an extension of the tenancies into the start of the new year to support the businesses over a key trading period.”

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