A young convenience retailer in Cheltenham last week marked a major business milestone by turning a traditional store launch into a full-day community celebration, bringing together customers, suppliers and local partners under one roof.
Retailer Arshpreet Sohal recently celebrated four years of his convenience store in Cheltenham by hosting a large-scale in-store event. The celebration also marked the launch of a new partnership with One Stop.
At the age of 20 years, Sohal is deemed as one of the UK’s youngest retail owners and postmasters and "first-ever youngest One Stop" retailer.
Rather than opting for a conventional ribbon-cutting, Sohal decided to transforme the store from morning through to night to showcase new services, upcoming features, supplier partnerships and, most importantly, the retailer’s values.
The day began with “Coffee with the Elves”, introducing a new coffee-to-go offer through a partnership with MyCoffeeStation. Free coffee and hot chocolate were served throughout the day alongside Christmas treats and mince pies sourced from a local bakery, setting a festive tone while highlighting the store’s growing food-to-go credentials.
As footfall built, the focus shifted to families with “Sweet Treats with Santa”.
A local customer dressed as Santa joined the store team to hand out freshly made, made-to-order sugar and flavoured doughnuts, milkshakes, goodie bags and colouring books for children.
Unlike a standard food-to-go launch, the offer was fully interactive, with products prepared over the counter for each customer, creating what the retailer described as a genuinely differentiated in-store experience.
The celebrations continued into the evening with “Rudolph’s Curry in a Hurry”, giving the retailer an opportunity to showcase cultural heritage alongside a new takeaway ready-meal service.
Customers were treated to homemade curries, freshly baked samosas and a selection of local craft beers and Prosecco supplied by a nearby brewery. The day concluded with Christmas singing, reinforcing the store’s positioning as a family-run business rooted in its local community.
According to Sohal, feedback from both the store team and business development managers highlighted the event as something entirely different from a typical convenience store launch.
By combining a symbol group partnership announcement, multiple service launches, cultural storytelling and a community celebration into a single day, the retailer aimed to create a more meaningful and memorable experience for customers.
At just 20 years old, Sohal said the milestone demonstrated what a new generation of retailers can achieve, adding that the event marks the first of many planned for the year ahead as the business continues to evolve.