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The refit was carried out in a co-investment with Appleby Westward, the regional distribution company for Spar stores in the southwest, to coincide with the anniversary.
Susan Connolly, sales and marketing director for the family’s three Wiltshire stores, said: “We put in a new shop front, all new refrigeration, new LED lighting and introduced a Costa coffee machine, updated the tills and introduced some self-weighing tills. We moved everything around in the store and it now looks so much bigger.
“We have adapted our ranges to suit the shopper, with more chilled products and fruit and vegetables,” she said.
The store also has a new gluten-free range, a bigger offering of Vapouriz vaping products, and a cigarette vending machine.
It also operates Jisp deliveries for customers and business overall has increased by 37% during the pandemic. “While footfall is down, basket spends are bigger,” said Susan Connolly. “My sister Sara is store manager and has worked tirelessly during the refit to make sure it all went well. Beech Hill Road really is in her heart.”
Long-serving customer Richard Thomas, who has been shopping at the store since 1976, was chosen to declare the new-look store officially open.
The Connolly family, which owns two other Spar stores in Tidworth and Pewsey, joined the symbol group in 2008 and recently marked its 60th anniversary in business by signing a new trading agreement with Appleby Westward.
