Two long-standing Spar independent family retailers have bid an emotional farewell from the convenience sector after a combined 102 years in business.
Roy Kellett and Graham and Kathleen Grant received a rousing ovation from delegates at James Hall & Co. Ltd’s Spar Inspire retailer event when their departures were announced.
They were each given commemorative plaques and gifts from chairman of James Hall & Co. Ltd, Ian Hall, and deputy chairman and joint managing director, Andrew Hall.
Roy’s route into the world of Spar was through the family business, when he followed his parents Tony and Isabella into convenience retail after leaving school in 1988.
His grandparents Vincent and Mary were the second retailers in the Northern Guild to adopt the Spar brand in the late 1950s in Lostock Hall. Mary had some luck on the football pools – winning the equivalent of £360,000 in today’s money – which gave them the start they needed to be independent retailers.
Roy has decided it is the right time for a career break. In a fitting turn of events, the Kellett family’s remaining Spar at Walton Park has been acquired by Lawrence Hunt & Co. Ltd - the first independent retailer in the Northern Guild with its Spar heritage going back to 1957.
Roy said: “I have so many memories and it’s been a long and proud history with Spar and James Hall. Our Brownedge Road store was in the family until 2016 when it was acquired by James Hall’s company stores division, later becoming the forecourt site there today.
“I started in the business earlier than 1988 as a paperboy and our Brownedge Road store used to be a recycling point for glass bottles which I also looked after. Although the role of a paperboy has died with the digital age, it’s funny how things come around in retail with the new drink container deposit return scheme that is set to be introduced.”
“I’ll miss being a community retailer. I saw it as a way of life, not a job.”
Looking back at his time in retail, Roy added: “I’ll miss being a community retailer. I saw it as a way of life, not a job. We’ve seen a lot change, and we’ve witnessed the community grow. Customers would come into the Spar for a chat as much as buying what they needed, and we ‘ve always supported local schools, youth groups, churches and charities.
Graham’s journey to becoming a retailer was more unconventional. After a desire for a new direction in his career, he switched from his role as a bus driver, taking on a vacant Spar store in Winlaton with his wife Kathleen in 1990.
Casting his mind back to when he became a Spar retailer, Graham said: “I left my dad’s business and wanted to do something else. I became a bus driver to earn some cash and one day I got off my bus and I just needed a change and something more permanent.
“It was absolutely terrifying at first, but it went from strength to strength, and we soon settled into the village. Like any retailer we’ve had our highs and our lows – mainly highs – and I’ve been all over the world with Spar.”
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