C OV E R
BOOKER W
Good things come
Booker Wholesale has launched it
B
ooker has this week unveiled a new flagship small format Premier store. The 600sq ft VG Foodstore in Wheatley Hill, County Durham, has been run by the Dhinsa family for more than 35 years and was previously independent. Brothers Steve and Jassy, who have taken over the running of the store from their parents, decided the time was right for a refit and it closed for six weeks as it took place. The new format takes the best learning from Mandeep Singh’s store in Sheffield, which trialled lots of new elements to attract consumers, and has won praise from retailers. Since it launched a year ago almost 250 retailers have visited Mandeep’s store with the view of copying it. However, the store is 1,800sq ft and its refit cost in the region of £150,000 to £175,000. Martyn Parkinson, Booker Sales Director, said: “We found retailers wanted to replicate it but in a smaller store. So we worked on how to get the best bits into a smaller space. That was a real challenge. “Luckily Steve and Jassy were looking to have a refit, they had visited Mandeep’s store, and asked us to implement whatever we could from Mandeep’s into their store.”
SIMPLE FASCIA The small format store has a simple fascia that features the opening times and the services offered by the store, such as Post Office, Lottery and PayPoint, because services are currently playing a huge
10 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 88 WEDNESDAY 19TH JANUARY 2022
