Nisa partners reaping rewards of refits

More than 50 shops belonging to Nisa partners have been refurbished by the symbol group’s format and development team already this year and more are lined up ready to start work. Nisa is offering partners a 10% saving on all new refits until the end of the year.

In total 53 stores were developed between January and April this year of which 27 were new to Nisa and 26 converted from an existing fascia – either older Nisa branding or independent fascias. Nisa’s Evolution store format and fascia has been an increasingly popular choice for partners, the symbol group reports, making up 45 of the 53 installations this year.

Nisa says partners have repeatedly reported strong sales uplifts on completion of store development, with the latest figures showing an average growth of around 11%.

Gary Batten, a longstanding Nisa partner based in Cornwall, completed a refit of his St Stephen store in January this year having invested profits made during the height of the Covid crisis back into his business.

He said: “I really wanted to secure the profitability of the store and make it fit for the future. We’ve increased our food to go area by about 50%, and extended our chiller run by the same amount, added in a full Co-op own-label range across all categories and the changes are really working for us.”

Batten said sales have increased in the Cornish store week-on-week post refit, with an underlying trend of around 15% growth in weekly turnover.

Head of format and development at Nisa, Darren May, said: “We are seeing increasing demand for re-fits from partners, and I’m really pleased with the growing desire to improve stores and offer customers the best possible shopping experience.

“The Nisa format team works closely with partners and shop fitters to create the ideal solution for each individual location, and we are very proud of the bespoke service we offer.”