It’s easy to forget that behind all the balloons and ribbon cutting, a newly refitted store is not only something to be celebrated, it also represents the end result of sometimes months of work from the retailers, symbol groups and suppliers behind it.
Retailer Max Bashir and his brother Ellis only took over what was a Best One store on Middlesbrough’s Borough Road in early September, but said he knew a refit was required from day one. He changed it to a Go Local Extra, which his family already had experience of.
Speaking to Convenience Store just a week after the store’s opening day, Max said: “We took over the store on 1 September and it was always our plan for a full refit. The shop was very good in terms of both footfall and sales, but it was dated and in much need of modernising.
“The differences in the store now are vast. We’ve had new lighting, a new floor and all new shelving installed. We lowered the shelving too as it was previously very high, and I think lower shelves create a better shopping experience for the customer.”
Helpful support
Max also had nothing but good words for the support he’d received from his store’s wholesaler, Parfetts, during the works, which saw it close for seven days: “The store’s layout was fully chosen by ourselves and the Parfetts store development team, using what we know works from our other stores.
“The support from Go Local throughout the process has also been absolutely second to none. We work closely with them anyway, but this experience has only made our regards for them even higher.
“We had five or six of their staff down helping fill and merchandise the store before the opening day, and a large number came down on the day itself to support us.”
From the photos posted online of the opening day, one element really stood out – namely just how many suppliers were onboard. Tables outside the new store were heavily laden with products for visitors to sample.
In fact, the list of company names Max later thanked across his social media channels after the event numbered 22, with products, giveaways and more on offer for those attending.
Max explained a little more on his work with companies such as Asahi, Haribo, Red Bull, Thatcher’s, Heineken and many more: “I have an amazing relationship with so many suppliers that I’ve worked closely with over the years, so when events like this come along, they’re more than happy to support in any way they can.
“Supplier relationships are so important and they have real benefits both ways.”
Other initiatives
Further improvements to the Middlesbrough store that were brought in during the refit have a more technological edge, in addition to key promotional changes.
Max explained: “We now have an LED platform for box packs of beer and cider, which was installed this week and will be a point of difference for the store.
“We also have extremely strong promotions through the Go Local Extra promo periods and our customers have already started to notice these.”
As well as those changes, Max explained that the other difference shoppers will notice is the expansion of the store’s key ranges: “We haven’t added any new categories specifically, but we now have more expanded ranges.
“They’re in areas that are currently big for us - for example ready-to-drink alcohol, bagged confectionery and novelty kids’ products. We have a huge range in all these categories now.”
Looking ahead, Max concluded by revealing he plans to fine tune the store further, and will definitely be listening to his customers.
“We’ve already been in talks with suppliers over some end bay space we could really get creative with, to make something that looks really eye-catching for the customers with strong promotional activity.
“The store is by no means perfect yet - there’s still many elements we’ll perfect over the next few months to really try to become a destination store stocking everything the customers want.
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