Denise Joshi from Plant Vegan had no idea that the players were planning on making a visit
Plant Vegan owner Denise Joshi with Alisson, Conor Bradley and Milos Kerkez
Plant Vegan owner Denise Joshi surprised as the Liverpool stars walked into her shop(Image: Supplied/Denise Joshi)
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A Netherton woman was left "open-mouthed" when three Liverpool players walked into her shop unannounced yesterday (Thursday, September 18). Now she is hoping that it could provide an important boost to the business after a difficult time of trading.
As Denise Joshi was preparing to wind down for the day shortly after 3pm yesterday, she had to do a double take when the trio of Reds stars walked into her shop, Plant Vegan on Utting Avenue in Anfield.
She told the ECHO: "There was a little bit of noise going on outside, so I just looked out and I could see there were people who seemed to be doing a little bit of filming.
"Then about five minutes later, Alisson, [Milos] Kerkez and [Conor] Bradley just walked in through the door. I was just so shocked that they walked in. At first, I was open-mouthed because it's not something that happens every day. The players do go out and about but it's not very often that they'll walk into a little independent shop round the corner from the stadium. They're normally used to going into high-end posh shops.
Plant Vegan owner Denise Joshi
Denise was going about her day as normal as the players walked into her shop(Image: Supplied/Denise Joshi)
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"It was one of those moments where when you think back, you think, 'oh, should I have said that or should I have done this?' But in the moment, you're just shocked."
After exchanging pleasantries with the Liverpool stars, there was another shock in store for Denise. She said: "They said 'We've got something for you'. And then they gave me a box and I just said 'Do you want me to open this now?' They were like, 'Yeah, open it up.' So, I just said to them, 'Well, there's nothing in there that's going to jump out on me, is there?!'
"And then they were like, 'No, no', and laughing. I opened the box and it was a shirt and they said, 'We'll sign it for you'. So, they took the shirt and signed it. My nephew, James, he'll be over the moon with that."
After posing for a couple of pictures outside the shop with the Liverpool stars, Denise posted the picture to social media where she has been flooded with comments from businesses and customers.
She is hoping that the shop's new-found notoriety can help attract more customers, after what has been a particularly difficult time for the business.
She said: "I think at the moment, it's very difficult for any independent business, especially a small business. We've just had the summer holidays, so trade is obviously down over summer. Trade is still down now because the kids have gone back to school and this is the time where people without kids tend to go away, because obviously it's cheaper to get away.
The Liverpool players gave Denise a signed shirt
The Liverpool players gave Denise a signed shirt(Image: Supplied/Denise Joshi)
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"At the moment, we're in that lull whereby it'll probably stay pretty quiet now until about November, and then people start thinking about Christmas. Obviously people's spending habits are changing constantly, with everything increasing. There's pressure on everyone to tighten their belts."
Denise also believes that the club's recognition of local businesses is a positive. She added: "I think sometimes when the players show that they're interested and they come out of the stadium, I think people then can meet them and can be like, 'OK, they're only human, they're really nice people'."