We’re a family-run store based in Leicestershire and we’ve been here for 100 years this year. I’m the fifth generation to take over the business and we focus on providing for local customers using local products and taking a traditional view, while following modern times.
Covid-19 changed our outlook and we did a refit recently. We have installed a kitchen on site and plan to have a basic menu and develop over the next few years. The majority of our customers are local, with some passing trade and a nearby school. Our key point of difference over our competitors is our team and staff, as well as our product range, which consists of local suppliers and small quirky suppliers, compared to the Co-op or Tesco.
In-store display is a massive part of retail. In an affluent area, price isn’t our main domain so we’ve been focusing on local suppliers and quirky ones to bring something different. We’ll then try and changes these displays regularly.
We completely re-fitted the store and changed the shopper missions we cater for. We were led by news and magazines, but we’ve flipped that and focused on fresh and improved the food-to-go offering with the kitchen. The other change is we bought alcohol to the forefront of the business by developing the range and making it a place where customers can do their full shop, rather than just a top-up.
Changing our store layout and displays have helped boost our overall margin. We radically increased fresh, going from 7m to 14m, and introduced Tango Ice Blast and F’real. We also have focused on driving premium alcohol products in store.
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