Top 50 Indie Park Garage Group (PGG) says it is enjoying a 25% uplift in chilled sales from the first of its 80 forecourts to switch to Co-op Wholesale supplies, in a conversion programme it expects to complete by the end of July.
Its Shrewsbury Services/Thieves Lane outlet, which debuted with the new store proposition at the beginning of April, has also seen a 10% increase in total shop sales, which is ahead of expectations, according to PGG’s head of operations Ian Cawley.
“We are very pleased. Chilled has seen the biggest jump and it is why we went with Co-op own-brand,” he says.
The group made the change as part of a strategy to reduce its reliance on impulse products and develop a fresh ‘eat now and later’ offer.
New additions to what PGG describes as the Co-op’s “elevated range” include sushi, deli, handmade Irresistible sandwiches, a larger choice of ready-meals, and the Served mains and side dishes.
“We didn’t expect to see such decent figures so early on,” says Cawley. “We never sold an awful lot of ready-meals before, now we are hitting 170 ready-meal purchases a week. Also, sandwich sales have gone from 130 to140 a week, to 300.”
At the end of this week the business plans to have 18 sites taking the Proud To Stock Co-op branding, with an energetic programme which has seen three stores switching to the format each day.
PGG used the launch of Co-op at its flagship Rushden forecourt to donate £500 to local Denfield Park Primary School.
