Read what’s happening in the convenience & independent retail space. Who are the latest innovators & winners in this marginalised retail sector?
Spar staff from the North West of England came together to support Operation Christmas Child. On Tuesday 24 November, over 30 staff from 13 Blakemore Retail Spar stores a division of AF Blakemore donated over 300 hours in one day to
Fast growing UK convenience store chain, Central Convenience Stores, has appointed Lee Peck Media as its PR and marketing agency. Ringwood based Central was founded in 2012 and already has more than 60 stores in its target territory, the south
JW Filshill, owner of the leading KeyStore convenience store brand and one of Scotland’s oldest food and drink wholesalers, has unveiled a new brand identity featuring a refreshed logo, new vehicle livery and revamped website. Celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2015, the
Retail’s Best 2015 is the third in a series of business networking events created by independent forecourt retailer Moiz Vas, which are proving to be a magnet for top retailers in the convenience and forecourt sectors. Up to 1,000 convenience
One Stop, a retail convenience business with over 750 shops in the UK and a subsidiary of Tesco, has launched a new supplier collaboration portal. The One Stop Collaboration Gateway was implemented by IRI, a leading provider of FMCG market
Food and wine retailer Booths recorded solid year end results against the backdrop of a tumultuous grocery market. Sales were down slightly by 0.5%, held back by food deflation and a highly competitive retail market. The business recorded a modest
Leading fan manufacturer ebm-papst and Cross-Group, which delivers industrial and commercial refrigeration solutions, worked together to install over 2,000 new fans for the Henderson Group throughout its company owned stores in Northern Ireland. The project replaced the existing stock of 38W
Booths has been crowned ‘North West Retailer of the Year’ at the prestigious Lancashire and Cheshire Life awards. The awards, which recognise the highest calibre of food, drink and hospitality businesses, celebrate local food and those who produce it. Booths
Roadchef, one of the UK’s largest Motorway Service Area (MSA) operators, has announced the opening of a new Spar store at its Northampton site on the M1 and A43. Offering grocery items and a selection of artisan products, Northampton becomes the
Spar International, the world’s largest voluntary retail chain, has announced plans to grow its footprint in Africa with confirmation that the brand has opened its first store in Cameroon, one week after opening a supermarket in Lilongwe, the capital of
Spar retailers can maximise the potential of their businesses by taking a fresh look at their stores and all of the exciting new and existing initiatives offered by Blakemore Trade Partners. That was the key message from this year’s Blakemore
EAT 17’s Spar Hackney has won the prestigious national IGD Innovative Store of the Year Award. The IGD Awards recognise the achievements of retailers across the UK’s food and grocery industry, with winners being selected by some of the sector’s top
Spar UK claims it is set to become a digital leader in the convenience sector, with the launch of a new digital strategy that is even more adaptive to today’s consumers. Following an extensive phase of customer research and data
Tokheim, one of the world’s largest providers of fuel retailing solutions, is returning to Retail’s Best for the third time running this November, this time as the official EPOS partner. Tokheim will be using this year’s Retail’s Best event as the platform to share
Shoppers across the North can now mark the 5p bag tax which the government launched on 5 October in style. Northern retailer Booths has responded to the new legislation, which is designed to reduce litter and encourage sustainable bag use, by
A local retail group has launched plans to install Northern Ireland’s largest network of external, public access defibrillator devices here, it has been announced today. Over 300 of Mallusk-based Henderson Group’s Spar, Eurospar and VIVO branded outlets have signed up to
Spar UK is launching its first ever ’12 Deals of Christmas’ campaign, offering shoppers fantastic new promotions and money-off deals every week from next month. Offers will run on products including top brands from suppliers including P&G, PepsiCo, Britvic, AB InBev
One Stop has launched a new frozen meal deal, in response to consumer demand and the success of its existing evening and lunchtime meal deals. The promotion is unique in the sector due to the breadth of products involved and
Spar is launching an exciting new media campaign, aimed at surprising shoppers with all the products they can find in their local store. In a series of TV ads and sponsorship, the new media campaign focuses on eight headline products. To
Food and drink retailer Booths is offering the definitive Great Northern Christmas to gourmands across Britain this year, offering nationwide delivery on their superb Christmas range. With 31 stores across Cumbria, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire and Greater Manchester, the award-winning retailer
Morrisons has reported a 47% fall in half year profits to £126m and is closing 11 supermarkets as part of its plans to turnaround the business. Like-for-like sales in the six months to 2 August fell by 2.7%. Yesterday (9 September), Morrisons confirmed
A Barton-upon-Humber retailer has become the first franchisee to take advantage of One Stop’s innovative pop up shop, which was launched by the group just over two years ago. One Stop has relaunched its ‘mini store’, following requests from its
ExaClair, the UK supplier of brands that include Rhodia, Europa, Guildhall and Clairefontaine has signed a new contract with WHSmith Travel that ensures premium space for its Rhodia and Europa brands. Some 80 WHSmith Travel stores, located in train stations
A One Stop franchisee is celebrating his first anniversary of trading with One Stop by completing a major expansion programme and trebling the size of his store in the process. Umesh Gola joined One Stop Franchise in August last year
One Stop Franchise has officially opened its 100th store after a full re-fit, following May’s announcement it had reached treble figures just 15 months since the scheme was rolled out. The opening also marks One Stop’s investment in the independent sector
