Work to improve range and services in a village store in North Wales has completed in time for Christmas. The Nisa Local in Ruabon near Wrexham has undergone a 600 sq. ft extension giving shoppers in the village access to a much wider choice.
Retailers Geoff and May Pettitt, who have run a store in the village for more than 30 years, had the opportunity to invest in their store after a neighbouring unit became available.
The shop has now grown by 60% expanding from 1,000 sq ft to 1,600 sq ft and the husband and wife team believe they are now offering villagers everything they need “within walking distance”.
Geoff said, “There are large supermarkets on the outskirts of the village, but the beauty of our shop is that people can walk to us for their groceries as we are very convenient.
“By extending the store we feel we have ensured our customers can get absolutely everything they need without having to get into their cars which is something we believe they really welcome.”
The new space has allowed additional chillers to be installed enabling the expansion of the range - particularly food to go and meals for tonight - with two and a half more metres of chill installed, and the off-licence area has been extended by a similar amount.
Geoff continued, “We have increased our range of wines and as well as selling them at competitive prices we are also now able to show them off and give them more prominence in the store. And the space has allowed us to support some local suppliers better – we stock products from two local breweries which are very popular with our customers.”
The frozen section, a high sales area for the store, has grown with more freezer space created enabling extra lines to be stocked including the increasingly popular Co-op own brand ice creams and desserts. And the main grocery section is vastly improved with the larger store allowing more space to add to the range and stock new lines.
The couple, Nisa partners for around 15 years, said: “We feel quite proud that we have been able to improve our store in this way and our customers have all given us such positive comments, both about the store itself and also the extra choice they now have.
“We are now experimenting with the range, trying to work out what our customers like, to make sure we get it right for them and their needs.”
