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A New SPAR Store Opens In Yetminster.Local couple Tony and Karen Read have taken over the village shop in Yetminster, Dorset which has been closed for the last year, re-opening it as a SPAR store and Post Office. The couple, who live in nearby Thornford, have refurbished the premises from top to bottom to provide a modern convenience store with Post Office services to serve the needs of the local community. Tony worked as Head Of Sales for Appleby Westward, for the last three years. He has worked in the food retail business for the last 40 years, having also been involved in store management for Tesco, the Co-op and Somerfield. He said: "We have lived in our Thornford home for the last 24 years and therefore know the area very well. When the opportunity came along to acquire the village shop in Yetminster, we decided to snap it up as it offers such a lot of potential. We aim to make it a classic local village store that is very much at the heart of this lovely rural community." Did you know? Appleby Westward is the SPAR (SPAR website) Retail Distribution Centre (RDC) in the West Country. They have a long-established local distribution service currently meeting the needs of a large number of great stores from Bournemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth in the East, Helston, Falmouth and Truro in the West and Bristol and Bath in the North.

A former newsagents shop in Boscastle, North Cornwall has been re-opened as a SPAR store following a joint investment project involving the owners and Appleby Westward. Iain Lewis and Becky Harrison worked alongside Appleby Westward to convert the newsagency into a modern convenience store which now offers local customers the full SPAR range as well as news and magazines. The store was completely refitted with a new ceiling, floor, counter, new fixtures and freezers and a SPARpos system. In addition, new chillers have been installed offering customers a wide range of fresh foods and soft drinks. The new Boscastle store also has a wide choice of beers, wines and spirits as well as a food-to-go offer, and services include home delivery, National Lottery and a free-to-use ATM. Regional Sales Manager Graham Allen said: "The conversion has proved very popular with customers, with a very positive overall feedback and many expressing surprise at how big the range is within the store. The development will make the business more viable and serve the community all year round." Did you know? Appleby Westward is the SPAR (SPAR website) Retail Distribution Centre (RDC) in the West Country. They have a long-established local distribution service currently meeting the needs of a large number of great stores from Bournemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth in the East, Helston, Falmouth and Truro in the West and Bristol and Bath in the North.

A convenience store in a small Devon town on the edge of Dartmoor, which had fallen into disrepair, has been given a complete makeover and re-opened as a modern SPAR store serving the local community. The former Solo Stores in Fore Street, Chudleigh has been acquired by SPAR store operator Gillett's (Callington) Limited and been the subject of a major refurbishment for several weeks. "We bought the store from a receiver," said Managing Director Mark Gillett. "It was formerly a Wilkies store but the premises had fallen into a state of disrepair over a number of years and we have totally refurbished it, starting with the very basics through to a comprehensive refit." The store was refurbished in a joint investment scheme with Appleby Westward, creating a new shop front, increasing the off licence range by 200%, introducing food-to-go and increasing the area for chilled products threefold. The chilled section is distinguished by all cabinets having retro fit energy-saving doors installed, creating a distinctive eye-catching effect along one whole aisle. "The store was fully merchandised, using the plans available from Appleby Westward," said Mark. "As we were starting with a complete new range, it did make life a lot easier and helped ensure we had the correct range for the shelving configurations within each section. "We are very positive about the store, and it has been exceedingly well received by the locals," he added. Gillett's purchased its first store in 1984 and has steadily grown with regular strategic acquisitions of businesses in rural locations. The company now operates 61 SPAR stores throughout the south west.

SPAR stores taking part in a new merchandising programme instigated by Appleby Westward have already seen a positive impact on sales. One store in the Cornwall area run by Gordon and Karen Green has enjoyed an uplift in weekly sales. Before the project took place weekly sales in store were £8,677 and an uplift of 29% now see's last week's sales at £11,236 respectively, while Howard Toms' store in Southsea, Portsmouth has seen a sales boost of 11% and 6.6% year on year. Head of Sales Vince Brown said the merchandising programme was taking part in 32 nominated stores throughout the region until the end of this year. "Appleby Westward is more than simply a delivered wholesaler - we are partners in growth with our retailers," he said. "Our added services like merchandising are designed to help grow their businesses." Appleby Westward has been focussing considerable effort on space planning, regularly updating its suite of planograms to make sure its stores have the best range and opportunity in the convenience marketplace. Regional sales managers discussed the project and the benefits of implementing planograms with their stores. As a result, they nominated 32 shops where they believed significant benefits could be achieved by reviewing the amount of space allocated to products and their location on the fixtures. "As well as creating extra sales, it was felt the stores would also achieve improvements to range and choice, availability, shop standards and overall customer perception," said Vince. "At the same time, it would allow them the opportunity for better stock management." Nominated retailers are being visited by merchandising team Helen Holmes, Becky Tremain and Christina Smith, who identify the opportunity to de-list slow sellers in preparation to review the space and implement the planograms.

Appleby Westward Group Limited Paris distribution - A Portsmouth SPAR store has won prizes in separate promotions run by two major consumer brands. The store, in Queen Street, which is owned and run by the Sattari family, won the award for best display in a 'Celebrate The Summer' promotion run by Carlsberg. Reece Sattari, who runs the 2,500 sq. ft. neighbourhood value store, is pictured here receiving an iPad2 from Sean Keenan (right) and Darren Harper, both from Carlsberg. Reece also collected £50 worth of Love2shop vouchers from Wall's after taking part in a retailer incentive scheme run by the ice cream manufacturers. The store won the vouchers after being one of the first SPAR retailers to send in photographs of the maxivision freezer unit featuring new themed point of sale displays. Queen Street is one of five SPAR stores run by the Sattari family in Portsmouth, Emsworth and Southsea.

Appleby Westward Group Limited│Forecourt Site in Dorset Is Now Firmly On the Map A major redevelopment project at a Dorset forecourt store - the third in the last 10 years - has put food-to-go firmly at the centre of the business. The scheme, a co-investment project between Loders Garage of Dorchester and SPAR's regional distribution company Appleby Westward, has transformed the 1,250 sq. ft. store in a bid to expand its takeaway food business. "We are a food-to-go store and very much a breakfast and lunchtime destination stop for many of our customers," said the company's managing director, Lee Loder. "As a result, we decided to re-design the layout to make food-to-go the heartbeat of the store. "We have brought the kitchen area into the store itself to create a bit of theatre, and have appointed Steve Jarvis, who has considerable experience in catering, as the dedicated manager to run the operation." Loders Garage moved its forecourt store under the SPAR umbrella ten years ago, and saw an immediate uplift in sales of 30% in the store and 20% on fuel. The company carried out its last shop refit in 2007. "We moved to SPAR because of the strength of the brand," said Lee. "Historically, we had been motor traders, not shopkeepers, and needed to get on board with the experts. Appleby Westward co-invested in the development of the shop from the outset, and we introduced an off licence, food-to-go and fresh and chilled produce.