An independent convenience store in Weston village is seeing massive rise in sales after it refurbished and rebranded as Budgens store.
Since taking the shop over a decade ago, husband-and-wife team Vanraj and Roshni Odedra have worked tirelessly to ensure that the store meets the precise needs of its now thriving local community – and thanks to a recent store development – including a switch to the Budgens brand, their store is now more prized than ever.
“Since day one we have tried our hardest to support the local community,” Vanraj says. “We introduced a great new value for money proposition, brought in lots of local products and added as many helpful services as possible. We have also tried to play an active role in community life supporting a wide range of local initiatives, especially the schools, and I have served on the local parish council for a number of years too.
"The village was going to double in size, so we knew that we were going to need a lot more space and also a much wider range – including a lot more fresh, chilled and frozen,” explains Vanraj.
A major building project began in early 2024, which saw Vanraj and Roshni knock through the store’s wall into their living room and build out into their garden – creating a new 1,600sq ft shop floor.
The next job was to select a new symbol partner.
“Everyone knows that Budgens is famous for fresh, so switching to Budgens was the logical move to make,” Vanraj says. But he didn’t just sign on the dotted line straight away.
“I visited a number of Budgens stores on different days of the week and at different times to judge the standards for myself – and the availability and quality was always impressive.”
The brand-new store opened with a vibrant new fresh and chilled offer featuring 3.75 metres for chilled fruit and vegetables and more than 5 metres of chilled foods including ready meals, fresh meat, fish, deli and dairy products.
“Our RDM assured us that wastage wouldn’t be a problem and he was right. When we launched the new store, we started offering Too Good To Go’s Magic Bags as a way of managing wastage. In the first few weeks of trading, we made up around five bags – but now we are struggling to fill even one.”
Overall, total sales have grown by a whopping 42 per cent since the development, driven by fresh, chilled, frozen – and milkshakes.
“The reaction to the new store has been outstanding,” Vanraj says. “Our shoppers love everything about it. We’re serving their needs better than ever before and we’re ready to welcome in even more new shoppers when the housing development is finally complete next year.”
Stewart Fenn, Sales Director at Booker Retail said, “Brilliant job from Vanraj and the Budgens team, the store
continues to go from strength to strength. A well done to everyone involved.”
