Retailers hit the capital for Bestway's Awards Night... - Best-one

GIRL POWER!
When Angie Stevenson and Sharon Butler saw that
their local convenience store in Newquay was lying
empty, they decided it was an opportunity too good to
be missed. The store had been closed for nine months
and was left idle, waiting for someone to come in and
make it a success once more. Cue Sharon and Angie.
The girls discovered there was a
demand for a convenience store in
the area. In fact, while they were
renovating the store and preparing
for the grand opening, they were
inundated with queries about
when they were opening. And on
the night of the opening 8 weeks
ago there were more than 40
people queuing outside the door.
So far their first retail venture has
been a success, averaging £9,000
in sales a week. But Angie is quick
to add: “Once word gets out about
the store being open, we hope
that we’ll do even better. In the
run up to opening, we distributed
leaflets and that really got
people’s attention.”
The girls are very appreciative of
their wholesaler Bestway’s help
and recommend it highly.
They are also full of praise for the
shop fitters who were able to get
the store ready for stock so
quickly.
And it sounds like they had their
work cut out. “The store was in a
terrible state when the girls first
took it over” says Ron Wootton,
Best-One business development
executive for the Cornwall area.
“The interior had to be completely
renovated and all fixtures
replaced.
The store is the first Best-One in
Cornwall and the girls are
delighted with the support that
they have been given from their
symbol group. “Whatever we’ve
wanted, Bestway has delivered.
Ron has been amazing, he’s taken
calls from us 24/7 and phones us
everyday to make sure we’re doing
ok,” says Sharon.
So far it has been mostly smooth
sailing for the girls with the only
setback being re-applying for an
alcohol licence. “The previous
owner of the store decided to
cancel the licence and when we
opened we had to re-apply. This
takes 28 days to come through
and until it does we can operate
only on a temporary licence, which
means we can sell alcohol only on
a four days on and one day off
basis, which has affected our
business.”
The duo are keen to offer as many
services as the can for their
customers and have installed
PayPoint and hot food to go, while
the lottery will be coming soon.
They have also opted for an epos
system with 2 tills and a back
office system which allows them
to order stock and check weekly,
daily and hourly takings.
There are seven members of staff
altogether and the girls are there
most of the day, while running
their other businesses too. “You
can’t start a business without
putting in the hours,” says Angie.
“We’ve doubled the opening hours
of the previous owners. They
didn’t open at all on Saturdays and
Sundays and at other times they
just closed whenever they felt like
it! We know you can’t just stand
behind the counter and take
money.”
“The shop is something of a local
point within the town and it was
sorely missed by residents when it
closed,” says Sharon. “The support
they’ve shown us is unbelievable,
we’ve had flowers, cards and even
our first Christmas present from a
customer. ”To help cultivate a
strong customer relationship, they
are introducing free local deliveries
in the coming months, especially
to help out their elderly customers.
There’s no doubt that the store’s
key location and a savvy pricing
policy have enabled them to get
the business off to an excellent
start. Says Angie “We’ve been
charging to suit the area. At one
end of the road there are
expensive houses while at the
other there are council houses.
We’ve had to set our prices to suit
both ends of the market and it’s
worked well so far.
Sharon and Angie will be getting
involved in the community further,
as they are Best-One ambassadors
for Cornwall so will be helping with
charity drives for Barnado’s and
Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Although the girls have already
been nominated for a Best-One
award in the stores category, they
don’t intend to rest on their
laurels. They are constantly
looking to better their first store.
“Moving into retail was a big step
for us,” adds Angie, “We had both
been in business before, but not
together, and not in this area. It’s
worked well so far and we hope
the business will grow.”
Article courtesy of
Convenience Store Magazine