It’s nine months since Paul opened his enlarged, fresh-focused convenience store.

Tapping into the local lunch trade has been key to his success and in part two of our guide to shopper missions, Tom Gockelen-Kozlowski finds out the secret to his success.

The opportunity

There’s a doctors surgery near to our store and the staff and patients all come in looking for lunch. We also have a school nearby, so we get a lot of school kids.

Edwards at Townfield

The range

  • Locally-made sandwiches (£1.70-£1.99) We make 35% on these on sale or return and the company regularly updates the range of fillings.
  • Pasta pots (£2.50) These are popular with women and help give our range some healthier options.
  • Booker sandwiches (£1) These come with a 30% margin and more than 10 days life. They are popular with local school children.
  • Sausage rolls etc (varies) We introduced bake off and food to go last year and now make £470 per week, though our wastage is currently too high.

 The location

Our store has a chiller that faces the door and two weeks ago I switched from stocking local meats there to our fresh sandwich range.

Our sales immediately went up from £270 to £450 in the first week. Our sandwiches were always just round the corner on a nearby cabinet but now they’re really in people’s faces and it’s made a big difference.

What’s next

I’m looking at introducing a meal deal with crisps and a drink, probably for £2.49 and am talking to PepsiCo and Booker about what I can do. I know if I want to make really good money then we’ll need to make our own sandwiches, which is something I might consider soon too.

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