Blakemore Trade Partners, one of the UKs largest family businesses and the primary SPAR wholesaler across the Midlands and Wales, is delighted to welcome Minesh Keshwala to SPAR with his new 1,500sqft SPAR store which opened in Ash Close, Barlborough, Derbyshire at the end of last year.
Retail very much runs in the Keshwala family. Minesh’s father previously ran a SPAR store in the village of Danesmoor in Chesterfield and now Minesh himself starts his journey in independent convenience retailing.
SPAR Ash Close, Barlborough is located within a large housing estate, with dedicated parking and a convenient central location. Minesh refurbished the store, reducing its size, fully refitting it to incorporate more efficient refrigeration to hold a great fresh range of chilled products including County Bridge meat, and installing a modern dailyDeli food-to-go area.
Food-to-go has historically performed very well in this site, partly due to the industrial units situated nearby and the proximity of the M1 motorway, and Minesh has fully embraced this opportunity by providing customers with a serve-over food-to-go option, hot and cold sandwiches and baked potatoes made in store together with Costa Coffee and a full range of hot and cold snacks.
The licenced area has been segregated using different flooring and circular LED lights, whilst the rest of the store has had new floor, ceiling, and LED lighting added throughout.
Minesh Keshwala said, “After researching various options in the convenience market, I decided that the SPAR brand best suited the needs of my business. I am very keen to expand my portfolio of stores and my vision is to become a multi-site SPAR retailer.
“Before launching the store, I wanted to make sure I did enough work to enhance the complete shopping experience for my local customers. I am delighted with how it’s all turned out and in particular the dailyDeli food-to-go area as it is our point of difference in the local area.”
Stuart Ware, Head of New Business at Blakemore Trade Partners, added, “We are delighted to welcome Minesh to SPAR. He has made a substantial investment into his store in Barlborough, and we look forward to supporting him grow his business over the coming years.
“Minesh has a great vision for the future, and we know that by working in partnership with him we will be able to bring all his ideas to life. Moving into independent convenience retailing can be a daunting prospect for some people, but as an independent business ourselves we understand what retailers need to succeed.
“We have the range, quality, and margins on products, as well as a vast range of award-winning SPAR own label products. The entire team at Blakemore Trade Partners wishes Minesh every success for the future.”
Blakemore Trade Partners (BTP) provides retailers with a series of initiatives to support shoppers. One BTP programme is making sure shoppers in local regions have access to a line of staple food and drink items at supermarket price matched prices.
Participating SPAR stores, like SPAR Barlborough, have matched the prices of a range of SPAR own label products against Tesco prices, meaning that local shoppers hard-earned money can now go even further.
Ware adds: “We continue to develop opportunities for our independent SPAR retailers to grow their sales and profitability and our supermarket price matching is really helping retailers like Minesh provide value locally.”
Blakemore Trade Partners supports the independent SPAR estate of A.F. Blakemore & Son Ltd. As a family business, A.F. Blakemore understands the needs and values of SPAR independent retailers and is committed to helping them achieve success.
Simon Hannah
