Bolton retailer expands store after three-year wait

Retailer Krishan Patel has recently refurbished and extended his second store in Bolton after waiting three years for a neighbouring property to become available.

Patel bought the Tonge Moor Roadstore in 2018 and ran it with an independent fascia as he waited for the opportunity to purchase the empty property next door allowing an extension and re-fit to his existing store.

The Nisa partner has taken his second store also to the symbol group as he completed the re-fit at the start of March.

Now standing at 1,800 sq.ft. – increasing the sales floor by a third – the store has great kerb appeal that attracts passing traffic as well as locals.

“I was waiting for the property next door to become available for a long time because I knew I could extend the existing store into that space and create a really great store,” Patel said.

“It’s a lot more spacious now. The extension has let me increase the chilled space for food and alcohol and invest in more space for food to go. I’ve also built onto the back and have great storage space.”

The layout of the store has been altered and additional refrigeration installed to enable the growth of fresh produce and alcohol.

“We’ve added five metres of chillers and increased the food to go area which we’ve have gone really big on. We sell hundreds of pastry goods every day. The location is great, and we sell most hot food all day.”

Patel was confident the expansion and installation of a Nisa fascia would drive sales in the store that already enjoyed high turnover.

“It was doing well but we didn’t have enough room. The work we’ve done has made the world of difference and you wouldn’t know it’s the same shop.

“I’ve had the plan for a few years, so it has been great to finally bring it to life and it has done exactly what I expected it to.”