Inside the new Liverpool speakeasy bar that pays homage to iconic store Rapid Hardware

Little Hardware serves up cocktails in paint tins, lightbulbs and wheelbarrows.
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A new speakeasy bar in Liverpool pays tribute to the former occupant of the building it now inhabits - the iconic hardware shop Rapid on Renshaw Street - in a unique way.

After walking in through a hidden entrance, you enter what looks like a DIY shop, only to find the bar at the end of a long hallway. With cocktails served in paint tins, lightbulbs and wheelbarrows - the themed cocktails carry on the theme.

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Owners Callum and Rachel Scott realised how much of a landmark Rapid was to the city and decided to pay homage to the shop that served locals for nearly five decades.

"It’s an experience. That’s the best way to describe it,” Callum told LiverpoolWorld. “That’s what you want from a speakeasy, isn’t it? Obviously, with Rapid Hardware - which is what this place used to be - we’ve brought that history back."

Hiding underneath the last shopfront, Little Hardware celebrates Rapid’s past. Whilst their cafe upstairs has a focus on brunch, the hidden speakeasy bar below, with the entrance accessed on Cropper Street, has a relaxed atmosphere and serves up hardware inspired cocktails.

Rapid Hardware was a Liverpool landmark. The family run business opened in 1971, but with a loss of footfall, and a downturn in the market conditions, it closed in 2017.

  • For a look inside Little Hardware and more from the owners, watch the video at the top of this page.
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