Nisa retailer John Stevenson has opened his third forecourt store in Northallerton, following six months of development at the 2,600 sq ft. site in North Yorkshire.

The new store features a series of artistic story boards that tell the story of the Stevenson family business. John’s father opened the family’s first forecourt store in Marton near Middlesbrough in 1978.

Commenting on the design of the store, John said: “For me it was really important to let our customers know that we are an independent forecourt, run as a family business. Within walking distance of the store we have almost every supermarket there is as well as the discounters and Marks and Spencer. I knew we were going to have to work hard here but we offer something a bit different through our independence.

“I got a lot of inspiration from stores in Ireland and also some of the concepts in Nisa’s Store of the Future Evolution shop that was exhibited at Stoneleigh. But throughout the whole development I said I just didn’t want it to be ‘samey’, I wanted it to look a bit different to other stores.”

John’s Northallerton store features bespoke LCD lighting to display its licensed range. A modern unit within the drinks section also offers a large selection of craft gins, with spirits displayed behind the counter and marked up with attractive paper price tags.

After one week of trading, John is confident that the store will continue to thrive.

“Fuel sales are absolutely bouncing,” he added. “We’re way ahead of what we projected and sales in the shop are also going well. The great weather has really helped but I’m pretty confident that once we get our food to go fully operational, with the arrival of Subway, we will see sales increase further.”