A Little Piece Of Britain on Powers Road

For most people, it takes a trip across the Atlantic Ocean to get to the United Kingdom, but for Westford residents, all it takes is a trip down Power Road.

British Delights, located just before , isn't particularly well known for most shoppers in town, but has gained a following throughout the MetroWest area and overseas as a retail and wholesale distributor of everything British.

"Most of our customers are people who are actively searching for all things British, but can't find them easily around here," said British Delights' spokeswoman Carole Mungai. "It's not a store that you'd immediately see, but we're getting plenty of people coming in and milling around, especially given the Christmas season."

In particular, the store's clientle largely comes from British ex-pats looking for a piece of home such as Linda Dallimore of Boxborough.

Dallimore, who originally hails from Glasgow, had been looking during her three years in the states for a place where she could find a taste of home and was thrilled when a friend let her know about the hidden gem on Power Road.

"A fellow Brit told me about this store and I came here fast," she said. "I mostly come here for the sweets to remind me of home, but I come here for plenty of things like sausage. It's always too highly flavored in the local supermarkets, here I can find what I became accustomed to growing up."

While the local British community and internet sales makes up the majority of British Delight's business, Mungai hopes that the store can gain more local customers; bringing in Westford shoppers not just to sample and experience British culture, but cultures from all of the employees' traditions from Brazil and Columbia to Mungai's homeland of Kenya.

"We gain most of our business from word of mouth now, and that word just isn't getting very far out of the local British community, but it would be nice," said Mungai. "Alot of people don't know about British good and treats. For adults and particularly for kids, it's like coming to the UK without the trip across the ocean."