Essex based independent retailer, SGN Retail will be taking over Ludlow Co-op from 24 January. The co-op will close earlier, at 10pm on 18 January. The rebranded petrol forecourt will open on 27 January for fuel only. The convenience store is planned to reopen on 14 February but that deadline could be delayed by a week if refurbishing takes long than expected.
This is good time of the year to refurbish and rebrand a store and petrol filling station as traffic and visitor numbers are lower.
The store will continue to sell Co-op products but these will be supplied by the national Co-op not the Midcounties Co-op as at present. We are promised “no major changes” but there will be an expanded food offer.
I see this as a positive move and far better than the store being taken on by one of the big five retailers. Tesco, for example, already own a supermarket and two One Stop convenience stores in town.
There are as yet no details about how many staff will be transferred to the new owner. The Foldgate Lane Co-op has always been a cheerful shop and I hope most will continue under SGN. I hope SGN will end uncertainty on which staff will continue as soon as possible.
SGN Retail is an independent retailer based in Essex. It has more than 100 sites across the UK.
“SGN Retail is an independently owned convenience store and petrol forecourt operator trading across the UK. Our style and ethos are simple, excellence of customer service to our customers through having the right products and services that you, our customer needs, when you need them, served to you in a friendly and professional manner.”
It owns more than 100 forecourt sites across the UK from Cornwall to Arbroath and from Swansea to Clacton on Sea. It partners with the Co-op in East Kilbride and Saltburn. The retailer says it works “with all the major oil companies and convenience brands”. It has forecourts supplied by Shell, Nisa, Texaco, Esso and Essar.
So that’s one retailer change we know about, it will be interesting to see to whom Applegreen have sold out.
Let’s hope there is a decent degree of competition in fuel pricing rather than the 0.1 p differences now!
Disappointed to lose the community-minded Mid Counties Co-op. Some consolation that the new owners will be selling national co-op products. Let’s hope the new owners continue to support Fair Trade and remain on our local group’s Fair Trade suppliers’ list.