Newly launched store wows shoppers in Wolverhampton

Customers in the Willenhall Road area of Wolverhampton have been lapping up a newly developed store that is unrecognisable from the shop it was previously.

West Midlands-based retailer Harry Dhillon, who bought the former McColl’s store, closed it down for a fortnight to carry out a full refit, and the new look Nisa store is paying him rich rewards.

Since launching the store in October sales have increased by almost 40 per cent in the six months to April. As the store is now embedded into the community, Harry is certain that sales will continue to grow.

“It’s a great looking store and my customers have all been really impressed with the shop as well as what we’re stocking. They love the promotions and are spending well,” he said.

Dhillon bought the store last autumn, seeing the potential with its prime location just off a busy road, close to the city centre and good parking outside for passing trade.

He started the refurbishment from scratch by removing all interior fixtures and fittings. The replacement of all existing chilled refrigeration allowed for a new layout to be introduced, changing the flow of the store to improve the shopping experience.

At just over 2,500 sq ft the store now offers nearly 9m of chilled products and a further 10.5m of chilled BWS.

Fresh meat and fruit and vegetables are good sellers although it took a few weeks to establish the range.

“When we first opened there was a bit of waste with fresh stuff going out of date, but it didn’t take long for customers to realise what was available to them in the store and now we sell everything very well,” Dhillon said.

“The new offer is really working. Every day we are seeing new faces coming in and shopping with us. People who have not been in for a while are coming in and they are really impressed.”

With housing as well as local businesses neighbouring the store along with passing traffic on the nearby main road, the footfall is strong and the average basket spend has been steadily increasing to the current £10 to £12.

“Our shoppers know us now, they know what they can get from us, and so we are going to make the most of it and push on to improve our sales,” Dhillon said.