PITSTOP: Jet New North Road

Time of visit: 11.30am

A bit of background

The site has recently been the subject of a major transformation with new Jet branding and a Spar shop that’s doubled in size. The makeover was driven by Kayur Patel, who only recently joined his father Janu’s business.

The Spar is what wholesaler AF Blakemore calls a ‘fresh format’ convenience store with 10-12m of chiller space

Kerb appeal

The site is easy to spot thanks to the bright yellow Jet branding with the silver-grey fascia. It is also situated on a corner which makes it easy to see from the road.

Pump action

There are eight fuelling positions and Jet’s Ultra unleaded fuel is offered.

The new canopy is very smart.

It’s a compact but very busy site so there is air and water but there is no room for a car wash or for parking.

Store style

The Spar store is well laid out, clean and tidy and has everything you would expect from a convenience store.

It also has a good car care section, something that can be hard to find on some forecourts these days.

There is an impressive off licence range including lots of bottles of ale such as Waggle Dance honey beer and Whitstable Bay.

Food to go includes a hot pastry display right by the door, a Costa Coffee machine, Tango Blast machine and a

big sign that tells customers that F’real milkshakes are ‘coming soon’.

The food-to-go chiller - complete with meal deal - had lots of gaps, particularly on the pastries shelf.

The McCoys on the meal deal crisps shelf had also been heavily shopped, again leaving lots of gaps.

The store has a massive flower display both inside and out. Apparently owner Janu Patel has a particular passion for flowers and sources them from Amsterdam, Colombia and Kenya.

I am not sure if they had been super busy but at the time of my visit many of the flower buckets were empty but I am sure when they are full it looks fantastic. I can see that teddy bears are used to enhance the flower display (and supplied as an add-on as an extra gift), but they were all lying down across the display and it looked like a teddy bear massacre!

On a mission

I was on a ‘meal for tonight’ mission and luckily for me there is a big fresh meat range branded County Bridge, which is Spar wholesaler AF Blakemore’s own brand.

Shelf-edge strips have strong messaging such as ‘Great value offers’ and ‘Mix and Match deals – any 3 for £7 or 5 for £10’. It’s great to see such offers but I do wonder if having so much pos highlighting them might detract from the quality of the meat?

Unfortunately, there are quite a few gaps in the chiller and much of the meat is reduced. However, I did manage to pick up a large meat pie and some pork.

There is a freezer that’s branded ‘Ready, set, dinner…’ but again, there were empty shelves. But I did get my pick of Spar brand ready meals from the chiller, which were on a ‘2 for £5 deal’.

The fresh produce range was good, and I managed to pick up some potatoes and salad to accompany my meat for dinner.

Comfort break

There is no customer toilet.

Impulse buys

Who can resist Dunkin’ Donuts – not me! They also had the American version of Walkers called Lays in some great flavours and Cheetos.

Anything else

The staff were extremely helpful and very friendly, which always makes for a more pleasant shopping experience.