Colin Graves, the founder of Costcutter, has switched his convenience store from Costcutter to Nisa, it has emerged.
Graves, who set up Costcutter in 1986 and ran the business until 2012, moved his 850 sq ft store in Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, across to Nisa in June when Costcutter switched its distribution from Nisa to Palmer & Harvey.
Graves told The Grocer the store, which had been trading as a Costcutter for two years, had continued to grow sales month on month and year on year since the move, and gross profit margin had increased by 1.5%.
He was also granted planning permission to extend the store, which also has a forecourt, to 2,500 sq ft in August - work that is expected to be completed by April at a cost of £750,000.
When finished, he expects the store to generate sales of £5m a year.
“I didn’t want to stay with P&H because I didn’t think it could serve high-volume stores and I was nervous of their chilled range and prices,” he told The Grocer. “I’m investing £750,000 in the store and I’ve worked with Nisa for 27 years, so I knew what I was getting and that it worked. P&H/Costcutter is unproven, a new distribution agreement set up with no track record.” His elder brother, Dennis Graves, switched his store from Costcutter to Nisa in 2013.
Costcutter CEO Darcy Willson-Rymer said: “Naturally we were disappointed when Colin decided to leave in July last year but we respect his decision. We remain totally focused on supporting our members and helping them to grow and develop their business.”
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