Gilletts Callington Ltd's community store in Williton, Somerset has undergone a major transformation to create one of the most modern SPAR stores in the country. The Fore Street store is one of SPAR’s trial Tuned In stores, designed to show customers how SPAR is truly tuned in to the community and the needs of people locally.

The Williton store was a popular local community business acquired by Gilletts of Callington and redeveloped in consultation with local customers.
Director Mark Gillett said:  “By being a Tuned In store, we are telling our customers that we provide the quality products and services they want in response to each of their shopping missions.

“We would like to thank all our customers for their patience during the refit of the store, especially those who were involved in the listening group sessions that took place prior to the refit. We believe we have delivered everything people felt was needed from their local store, but we do encourage customer feedback and will listen to all positive suggestions.” 

The store offers customers a comprehensive range of products and includes an in-store butchery and deli counter.  There is a cafe, where customers can relax and have a freshly made cappuccino or latte, a full English breakfast, or even a clotted cream tea.

“The refit took over a month to complete and was six months in the planning,” said Mark.  “It involved the design teams from SPAR central office, Appleby Westward and Uno Retail Solutions, and we are delighted with the final result, which we believe offers the people of Williton the very best in convenience store retailing.”

At the official opening, £500 was raised for St. Peter’s First School garden and a pupil from the school cut the ribbon to open the 2,500 sq. ft. neighbourhood supermarket store.

The store manager is Rick Harding, David Goble is assistant manager and Derek Weeks runs the butchery department. 

The store is open seven days a week from 7am to 10pm.  It includes a community board for local people with messages about local events and initiatives, as well as a personal statement from Rick to his customers, and the opportunity for customers to provide feedback.

Background on "Tuned In"

The community store in Williton is one of the first Tuned In SPAR stores in the west – friendly, neighbourhood stores that are an integral part of the local community.

These stores set out to be tuned in and fully involved with the community, understanding the needs of local customers and working with people in a way that no national chain ever could.Each Tuned In store is passionate about the food it provides and aims to offer its neighbours better shopping experiences, better products and the services customers want locally.

SPAR is setting out to stamp its brand firmly on the map for local shopping, make it easy for retailers to understand and implement, and take on the competition by creating a better offer that changes the way customers shop in local SPAR stores.

Owners of Tuned In stores are encouraged to listen to customers, act on what they want and communicate what they have done in store, proving that their stores are really tuned in to their communities.

The Williton store was redeveloped in consultation with the local community; listening group sessions took place before the refit so that the new store could deliver customers’ specific needs.  Store managers will continue to refine the offer and encourage suggestions from customers for further improvements to meet their needs.

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