CTN retailer Rippleglen is set to break into convenience for the first time. It is planning to test a range of chilled and ambient foods in one store later this year. If the pilot is a success, the offer will be introduced into further stores depending on their size, location and existing competition. The range will include 150 ambient grocery and household lines, including bread, milk and chilled goods to cater for distress convenience shopping. As many as 120 alcohol lines will also be tested. Goods will be sourced from wholesaler Palmer & Harvey McLane and delivered from Rippleglen's warehouse in Birmingham. Last month, Rippleglen acquired Northcliffe Retail in a deal believed to be worth £8.2m. The trial would not begin until this business was fully integrated, said Mike Colley, MD. "We are busy with the acquisition at the moment and will not begin experiments with convenience until we are comfortable that we have control," he said. Rippleglen's 165-strong portfolio of stores, which operate under four fascias - Arden News, Supernews, Candies and Supercigs - have not sold groceries before, though Northcliffe Retail, which has been renamed Eastcliffe News Shops following acquisition, sells alcohol in 17 of its 61 stores. Although the trial would give its stores a larger variety of products, news and magazines would remain the retailer's top priority, said Colley. "Our shops will continue with their strong heritage of CTN products as we do not believe it is sensible to go head to head with the grocery-based convenience operators," he said. "We're not planning to go into convenience like Spar, for example. "We are news experts and news gives us the ultimate opportunity to differentiate our business from our competitors." Rippleglen is ninth in The Grocer's ranking of the Top 50 independent retailers, recording a turnover of £98.4m and a profit of £323,000 last year. Earlier this year the retailer said it was looking to develop new stores at train and bus stations to win business from rising numbers of commuters.