A new 3,000sq ft Nisa shop has opened on the forecourt of Woodlands petrol station in Drefach, Carmarthenshire, in a ceremony performed by five Welsh rugby international stars.

Nisa Drefach was a small existing store of 600 sq ft that was demolished and re-built from scratch. It has been fitted out to Nisa’s Store of the Future Evolution format at a total cost of more than £1m.

The interior was specially designed with bespoke instore imagery and lighting and extensive work was also conducted in the forecourt area on the petrol pumps.

Owner and Nisa member Simon Lewis said: “My original shop in the village needed a lot of work done to it and I was going to extend it but then this garage came up and as I already have a petrol station I agreed to buy it. I initially intended to renovate the existing building but was advised the best thing to do was knock it down and start again.”

Simon kept the old store running while the new forecourt shop was being developed and closed it down as the brand new one opened its doors.

The forecourt store has five metres of glass doored freezers, three and a half metres of fruit and vegetables and almost six metres of alcohol along with approximately 12 metres of chillers.

Simon said: “It is the only store in the village and we also get a lot of passing trade. Business is building up nicely and we’re seeing lots of new customers in here as well as our regulars.

“The village itself is growing and so I expect our sales to reflect that in the coming few years.”