Nisal Local launches in Hull

The 1,600sq ft store only needed a small refurbishment to convert it from a green Co-op fascia to Nisa’s latest Evolution store format, with a new layout and merchandising.

In addition, new shelving was installed and more added along with additional refrigeration and lighting to make the best use of the store.

An “optimal” Co-op own-label range was introduced across ambient, fresh and frozen, and the store now offers a much-improved food-to-go offer with the introduction of a coffee machine and hot food, as well as a new chiller at the entrance housing the Co-op Meal Deal and other snacking options.

Premkumar said: “When we took over the Covid-19 issues were just starting and it was a very nervous time. We expected there to be supply issues and we knew there would be some problems with stock, but we decided to press ahead and get the store ready and trading.”

The store had traded well as a Co-op and Premkumar had initial reservations about shopper perception once it took on the new fascia. He said: “We were quite wary we might lose sales initially, but they actually increased immediately. When we took over, the panic buying had started and the store was taking more than usual, but in our first few weeks we saw a further increase of more than 10%.”

The new store has continued to enjoy strong sales with the average weekly turnover still higher than forecast. “When we modelled our baseline, we thought there would be a loss initially of about 10%, but instead we’ve had a 10% increase,” Premkumar added.

“We’ll now be concentrating on our customers, getting them used to us and the store so they can see we are a great place to shop and even better than what they had before.”