A redevelopment scheme at a Dorset SPAR store has expanded selling space by one third to enhance the convenience offer for customers.
Olly Andrews, who runs Maiden Newton Service Station in partnership with his mother Melody, undertook the development as part of an overall improvement programme including the Texaco fuel station and workshops.
In a co-investment project with Appleby Westward, the SPAR store has been increased to nearly 1,200 sq. ft. to develop space for chilled produce, beers wines and spirits and frozen food.
Olly became involved in the business 18 months ago when his father Mike died, having previously been involved in business management in electronics. His parents had run the service station for 40 years, and the shop had been with SPAR for the last ten.
"We regard our SPAR business as a convenience store with a forecourt, rather than a forecourt store," said Olly. "Our customer base is very much local people from the village and nearby who use us for convenience shopping, and so we decided to expand the store to meet their needs even better."
Chilled space has been increased from three to four bays, the beers, wines and spirits section from two to three bays, and frozen food from a single chest freezer to a 2 x 2 door upright, providing better display and availability.
Sales in January were up on the previous January by £6,000, and up on December 2012. "Each section that we expanded has shown an increase in sales," said Olly. "We are very happy with the overall refit and delighted with the results – it has completely opened up the store to display the whole range and gives a warm and friendly feel to our customers."