Convenience retail group Nisa is breaking records for store development programmes.
The Scunthorpe-based independent member operation is seeing unprecedented store investment across the symbol group.
It follows a recent relaunch as the sector sees strong growth.
More than 50 shops have been refurbished by Nisa’s format and development team already this year, and more are lined up for The Co-operative Group business.
Over half were new to Nisa, with 26 converting from either old Nisa branding or independent fascias.
Head of format and development at Nisa, Darren May, said: “We are seeing increasing demand for re-fits from partners, and I’m really pleased with the growing desire to improve stores and offer customers the best possible shopping experience.
“The Nisa format team works closely with partners and shop fitters to create the ideal solution for each individual location, and we are very proud of the bespoke service we offer.”
Nisa’s Evolution store format and fascia has been an increasingly popular choice for partners, making up 45 of the 53 installations so far.
And partners have repeatedly reported strong sales uplifts on completion of store development with latest figures showing average growth of around 11 per cent.
Gary Batten, a longstanding Nisa partner based in Cornwall, completed a refit of his St Stephen store in January this year having invested profits made during the height of the Covid crisis back into his business.
He said: “I really wanted to secure the profitability of the store and make it fit for the future. “We’ve increased our food-to go-area by about 50 per cent, and extended our chiller run by the same amount, added in a full Co-op own label range across all categories and the changes are really working for us.”
He said sales have increased in the Cornish store week on week post re-fit with an underlying trend of around 15 per cent growth in weekly turnover.
Nisa supplies more than 4,000 stores, owned by more than 1,400 members.
