Scottish convenience chain Eddy’s Food Station is shifting its focus towards larger store formats in a bid to drive sales and footfall.
Owner Stephen Thompson explained to The Grocer that the potential to make profit from smaller stores had become hindered by ongoing inflationary pressures, such as rising energy bills and staff costs.
“We’ve realised it’s harder to squeeze the profit and sales out of smaller stores, it’s become compromised,” he said. “There’s greater potential for turnover and footfall in a bigger square footage, and if you’re a higher turnover store, you can increase your turnover easier without increasing your cost base.”
The business, which launched its first store in May in Alloa, Scotland, had previously been seeking stores between 1,300 and 1,500 sq ft.
Thompson had found, however, that after launching its largest store in Greenock in August, at 3,000 sq ft, had highlighted the “even more opportunities to explore”.
“When you’re a new company, you go on a steep learning curve,” said Thompson. “And now, we’ve gone in a slightly different direction as to what we said it would’ve been nine months ago.
”We’ve taken on stores at time when the world is going a bit pear-shaped and it’s been challenging, particularly with staffing, the energy crisis, and finding the right managers.”
He added that the business would be looking to expand its food-to-go range and allocating more space to chilled foods, to take advantage of having larger stores and higher footfall.
”These will have closed door cabinets too, which, from an energy point of view, can cut your costs dramatically,” Thompson said. “However, the key is not to fill up the stores with lots more different suppliers. It’s about using our existing suppliers and stocking the stores properly.”
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