Marisa Crocetta serving at Algerian Coffee Stores in Old Compton Street [Kitty Wordsworth]

A FAMILY-run coffee business that has been trading in Soho for 79 years says while the area has changed, they plan on going nowhere.

With its distinctive red shopfront and striped awning, Algerian Coffee Stores in Old Compton Street has been open since 1887, bought by a Mr Hassan from Algeria.

In the 1920s the shop changed hands before a final time in 1946, when it passed to John Jones, with the same family running treasured Soho store nearly eight decades later.

“My sister and I were behind the till before we could see the counter,” said Marisa Crocetta who now runs the shop with her sister Daniela Dalby.

The coffee shop is like stepping back to a distant time, with old price lists, signs and photos lining the walls, and specialty coffee and teas from all over the world are on sale.

Algerian Coffee Stores has been in Old Compton Street for nearly 80 years

Ms Crocetta said: “We want to keep it a small welcoming old world kind of shop. We don’t want to do the whole new trendy thing, so we treat everyone with this feeling that they are coming back home.

“It’s not easy being independent. We’re very happy that we have got lots of loyal followers but every independent has the challenges of sky-high rents, rates, and having to adapt to the ever-changing environments.

“A lot of independents have gone and Soho has really lost what it was.”

It may be a small shop but all the mail orders are weighed up, ground, and packed in-house.

“Soho has really changed,” said Ms Crocetta. “It used to feel like you were in a little village.

“Companies and businesses would come and they’d be here for a long time so you’d know everyone and see everyone.”

Sisters Marisa and Daniela Crocetta behind the counter in the 1980s with their father Paul

She added: “We love our customers. When you have faced many challenges and everyone has been really supportive, and that makes the hard work worthwhile.”

Ms Crocetta and her sister grew up around the shop and always helped out their dad, Paul, who took over running the business after their grandfather died in the late 1970s.

Ms Crocetta said: “Dad started here just over 50 years ago, that was the true sort of Soho. The red light area was completely different and I think he thought it was a lot more fun.

“It’s a bit clean now but we still love being here and wouldn’t change it. Even though it’s a family business we were never encouraged to come here at all. We both went off and did our own separate things and naturally gravitated back to the shop.

“We might need to change what we’re doing in the future but for the moment coffee seems to be quite popular so we’ll keep going for as long as we can.”