Stafford food store’s fresh new look after £100k makeover welcomed by colleagues and community

Posted by james brindle | Published: 12/10/2021

A community food store in Stafford where colleagues have been going above and beyond to support locals during these uncertain times has been given a fresh new look following an investment of almost £100,000.

The Central England Co-op in Lynton Avenue, Weeping Cross has received a raft of updates to give it a fresher, lighter feel and to include several new ranges and features to boost its offering to the local community.

This follows the store’s colleagues working around the clock to ensure vulnerable people across the community have continued to have access to vital food and essentials through the Coronavirus pandemic.

The community food store in Weeping Cross has been undergoing a makeover in recent weeks with changes including:

•            An updated product range to better reflect customers’ requirements

•            New features such as brand-new Costa Coffee and Tango Ice Blast machines

•            New internal signage and decoration

Store Manager Roger Smith said: “The improvements to the store have been a real boost to all the team and it has really energised the place, opening the front of the store out and making it feel much lighter and fresher.

“I have had lots of positive feedback both from colleagues and our customers who have commented about how much of an improvement it is, and they are really happy with the new features.

“I would like to thank the community for their patience while the work has been completed but I hope they agree with us that it has been worth it.”

The Weeping Cross Food Store is open every day 7am-10pm. The store has a wide range of products from everyday necessities to something a little more special and also offers a lifesaving defibrillator, cash machine, Lottery, Collect Plus/Paypoint, an instore bakery and a customer car park.

Notes to editors

About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral and property investment.

Owned by hundreds of thousands of members, its over 7,800 colleagues serve customers across 400 plus trading sites in 16 counties in the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Its purpose is to inspire communities to create a sustainable Society for all.

It actively campaigns for the Government to increase sentencing for violent attacks on retail workers and works with FareShare Midlands and hundreds of food banks, generating enough food donations to create over 2.1 million meals for people in need.

The Society embraces inclusivity and equality and is a signed-up member to the Business in the Community (BITC) Race at Work Charter, while it is also fully committed to addressing the impact of climate change and is on track to be Carbon Neutral by 2030. 

It invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities through its Community Dividend Fund scheme which has seen over £175,000 shared out between 116 good causes over the past 12 months.

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

Phone - 01543 421390

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop