"The Payroll department not only deal with the on-going payroll processing of the Appleby Westward staff," (says Jo Hounsell, Appleby Westward's HR Director) they also work with a large number of our retailers who outsource their payroll to Appleby Westward'.
A re-merchandising scheme at a Devon forecourt SPAR shop has seen a dramatic uplift in sales in some categories and helped reinvigorate the store.
Regional Sales Manager Christine Edwards worked with James Holliss at the Totnes Cross store to enhance end bay promotions and brighten up displays.
She called in merchandiser Helen Holmes for expert help and advice and changed elements of the store within two days, with minimum disruption to customers.
“We didn’t introduce any new products, but took some slow selling lines off and made space to encourage sales on promotions, seasonal and £1 lines,” said Christine. “Basically, there was too much stock for the size of the store, and we set out to minimise that and generally open the store up.”
Early results were sparkling. Pastry sales soared by a whopping 911%, while hot drinks were up 44%. Sandwich sales were up 26%, drinks by 12%, and hot food increased by nearly 10%.
The re-merchandising programme was carried out in various stages. Point of sale was renewed and replaced and Helen then moved on to focus her attention on beers, wines and spirits and soft drinks.
Following the restructure of sales teams, new RSM Kim Rose then looked at Newsgroup with James to explore ways of streamlining the range of news and magazines currently available in the store.
Commenting on the overall re-merchandising approach, James said: “We have had loads of positive feedback from staff and regular customers, and our locals are getting used to the new layout.”
Totnes Cross is one of three family run forecourt stores in the South Hams area. Holliss Filling Stations’ two other stores are at Townstal Road Garage, Dartmouth and California Cross, Modbury.
Note to Editors: For further information on Appleby Westward, contact us via our contact page
Article updated July 2012
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