Store Openings

One Stop franchisee opens fourth store

Retailer Babu Sivaraja is enjoying the ease with which he can run multiple sites at the touch of a button, with orders generated automatically and flexible deliveries.

One Stop franchisee Babu Sivaraja has opened his fourth One Stop store, in Swanscombe. The Craylands Lane store is nestled in the middle of the Kent village and is surrounded by houses and a leisure centre, meaning there are plenty of customers living close by and lots of passing trade.

Babu says he is enjoying the ease with which he can run multiple sites at the touch of a button, with orders generated automatically and flexible deliveries across ambient and fresh products.

He said: “I was with another symbol group for eight years, but I did all the cash and carry runs meaning I could only ever run two stores at a time. I joined One Stop earlier this year and have now doubled the business overnight with two more new store openings in less than six months.”

Commenting on the new store opening, John Miller, head of franchise at One Stop, said: “It’s been great for Babu to progress with growing his business portfolio quicker than he expected. He talks about finding the ‘formula’ which he replicates to open a store to the same high standard as his last one.

“And he’s right, there is a successful formula which allows franchisees to systematically open stores with ease and run them remotely.”

One Stop rolled out a new EPoS system to all its almost 1,000 core and franchise stores in 2020. The multi-million-pound investment was designed to improve efficiencies in store, save colleagues time and provide a best-inclass platform for future developments.

Babu said: “The technology and back-office systems allow me to run my stores from anywhere. Obviously, I can’t be in all of the stores at the same time but now I can get a clear overview of all of them from one location – even from home.”