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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.

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.