James Convenience Retail has embarked on a major refit of the 36 stores the new company took control of in February.
High-profile indie Jonathan James linked with Bargain Booze owner Conviviality Retail as part of a 10-year agreement in which he took charge of 36 former GT News stores to run under the Bargain Booze franchise.
James said 17 of the stores would be refitted by the autumn. He also met Conviviality Retail this week to discuss “a very significant investment on our part”.
The sites were undergoing evaluation, but James said: “We are pleased with the sales we’ve seen.”
The 36 stores are situated across the Midlands and the North of England, but James, who has traditionally traded in East Anglia, said he was keen to expand.
“We want to backfill and are very keen to take the offering into East Anglia. We had thought we’d open 100 [Bargain Booze] shops in five years but now hope to do that sooner than then.”
James ran Spar and Budgens c-stores in Cambridgeshire before slimming back the estate to focus on an eco-business park. He also runs a Budgens in Dersingham.
No comments yet