February 23 2012Issue 01

In this issue:

Sainsbury Marnhull store opening

Cider Festival

SPAR West Country Cider launch

Amir Sattari opens 5th store

Olympic Gold Challange

Mother’s Day & St Patrick’s Day

Our Best Price

BRINGING YOU THE LATEST IN NEWS, UPDATES & EVENTS

Y ur SPAR

Y ur SPAR2012 is already proving to be another challenging year in convenience retailing with pressure on sales and margins showing no sign of letting up. I’m sure everyone has reviewed their ‘coping tactics’ with regard to belt tightening and striving harder to drive sales. It seems that everyone is looking for ‘profit improvement opportunities’, but are we looking in ALL the right places? We talk a lot about pricing and promotions, rightly so I think, and we have packages in place to support Retailers with SPAR’s value proposition ‘S- Budget’ range and our on-going ‘Real Deals’ campaigns, but there are other levers that are equally effective in driving performance.

During my store visits to meet Retailers in recent weeks it’s become apparent, in the spirit of working together as partners, that we have opportunities to review space allocation and range assortment. It’s vital that we understand how each product drives incremental sales and margin with particular focus on those that don’t! No point carrying dust gatherers! The single best way of systematically managing ‘micro space’ is by working within the framework of planograms. It will help you manage the on-going ‘one product in, one product out’ rule and keep your range contemporary with both the current market trends and consumer demand for new products. The opportunity is to revisit planograms in more detail, working within the broad framework to tailor the best range to suit your location.

Here is another challenge to consider. When was the last time you reviewed the ‘macro space’ allocation in your store? By that I mean the number of bays allocated to each category and the sequence they are placed within the customer flow? Do magazines still deserve 3 bays in the first aisle of your store or can they be moved further back in the customer flow……equally can fresh produce be moved towards the front door to enhance the store’s ‘ fresh credentials’ and drive margin/sales? What is the best layout for your store that will yield the maximum sales and cash margin? These are the areas where we really want to support our Retailers and work with you to ‘tune the engine’. I really believe if we get busy on these areas that are within our gift, we can drive sales and profit by selling more to existing customers. All of our other marketing activities should then provide additional sales and revenues.

Interested in reviewing your store layout and its macro/micro space? ……Please talk to your Regional Sales Manager.

We are here to help.

Mark McCammond

Hi and welcome to the new look magazine and this, the “view from the Guild”.

Well let’s get the bad bits over first. Trading times are tough and I think that we are all struggling to show growth or even hold our turnover. You are not alone, you only have to look at major brands out there in the high street to see the effect that it’s having.

But we have been given the “tools “ to help combat this, in the form of our great “S Budget” brand, which is about to be expanded and the lower wholesale prices on key lines in the form of “Our Best Price”. It is important that every single one of you as Retailers support these products, in respect of stocking them and retailing them at the recommended prices. This gives the customer the confidence to shop in your store and know that they are getting the best price. We all need to increase the volume on these lines and if we do, more will come.

So what’s to look forward to? Well the mornings and evenings are getting lighter and spring is on the way. Don’t forget to put Thursday 3rd May in your diary as that’s the day of the Appleby Westward Tradeshow at Exeter, with some great keynote speakers and great show deals. Also another date for your diary is the SPAR National Convention in Miami, 29th October – 3rd November 2012.

We have good trading opportunities this year with the UEFA European Football Championships, Queens Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. These are key events and the Wessex Guild, Appleby Westward and SPAR UK will be giving you the products and the “point of sale” to make the best of these events.

So all is not doom and gloom, think positive, grab the opportunities and enjoy being a SPAR Retailer.

Happy Retailing

Chris Sharrinton.

Mark McCammondManaging Director

Chris SharrintonWessex Guild Vice Chairman

February 23 2012 Issue 01

03

Marnhull resident Tracy Sainsbury swung into action when she heard that the local shop in her North Dorset village was likely to close for good.

She threw caution to the wind, gave up the job she’d held for 25 years working in a local solicitors office and bought the convenience store with her partner John Mogridge.

“It was one of those life changing moments,” said Tracy. “My family have always lived here, and with people talking about the old shop closing I just felt I couldn’t let it happen. I felt someone had to do something, so we bought it before it went to auction. People were very happy when they heard the store was staying and being taken over by someone local to the village.

“It used to be a SPAR store, so the first thing I did was contact Appleby Westward. People still referred to the shop as the SPAR and so it made sense to take the store back to its roots.”

When Tracy took the store over, it had virtually no stock, but she trebled turnover in the first week. She gradually built up a range of convenience products, establishing a rapport with customers and supporting the community by donating stock for local events.

In December, along with co-investment from Appleby Westward, she undertook a complete refurbishment of the 850 sq.ft. store to transform the business into a modern convenience shop, installing new flooring, refrigeration units, shelving and windows. A food-to-go offer was introduced with hot food throughout the day, along with a bakery offering fresh bread daily. The store has also introduced an off licence, and offers news, magazines and a full range of

fresh, chilled and convenience grocery products.

“Our customers are overjoyed with what we have done,” said Tracy. “People who had stopped coming to the shop have now started coming back and whereas people only used to pop in for a newspaper and a pint of milk, they now come in to pick up a basket to do their shopping for tea or other needs. I am seeing new faces every day, and we are very much the talk of the village.”

“People still referred to the shop as the SPAR and so it made sense to take the store back to its roots.”

Before...

After...

New Make Your Own Pizza Range

If you’d like to improve your food-to-go range then when not try our new range of make your own pizzas?

A selection of bases and toppings, including pepperoni and meatballs, are available with your Multi Temperature delivery.

Simply make them up, pop them in the oven and sell them by the

slice or even as a whole pizza!

For more details please see the Multi

Temperature Range Document, available from the website or contact Alex Schute on 07738989278.

Sainsbury (Tracy that is) Saves SPAR Store

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The first Cider Festival took place last year and achieved excellent results:

The SPAR cider category grew a • staggering 25% during the campaign, massively outperforming the market which experienced an increase of 4.1% during the quarter.

The top 12 SKUs generated almost £400k • in cash profit representing an increase of £100k from the previous year.

After last years success the Cider Festival will be taking place again in P16 presenting another opportunity to highlight the wide range of cider available and drives sales of this category.

POS is provided in your P16 POS National Kit and will help highlight some of the great offers we have on promotion during March, such as Kopparberg 3 for £5.50, Thatchers Selection Box at £8.99 and Strongbow 4 pack selling at £3.69.

Look out for the Cider Festival Retailer Incentive too, where you have the chance to win Capital Bonds, with the Top Prize being £500 worth of bonds.

05

Use POS provided to highlight some great deals on offer!

P16 Cider FestivalRetailer Incentive

SPAR West Country CiderNew Product Launch - 500ml

P16 Cider Festival Retailer Incentive

In line with the P16 Cider Festival, West Country Cider is being launched and will shortly be followed by the re-launch of Westward Gold Ale.

John and Kim Coulson, owners of the award winning Polgoon Vineyard, renovated a rundown farm and outbuildings to create a flourishing vineyard and orchard producing wines, champagnes and ciders. They offer guided tours and have an on-site shop filled with their award winning products.

Polgoon have produced our West Country Cider using only the freshest of apples grown in the West Country orchard.

Polgoon Ltd also have a wide range of other products which are available via their multiple terms account. For more details please call 01736 333946 or visit www.polgoon.co.uk

ORDER ON

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The Wessex Guild

supports S BudgetDid you know?

SPAR have sold nearly 1 million cans of

S Budget Energy Drink!

S Budget is the way forward Your photos

07

Look out for the new range of S Budget lines, coming soon!

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New Jacob’s Oddities The oddly amusing, light and crispy, baked snack in two delicious �avours. Backed by a £3million media campaign. The brand is set to take the Savoury Biscuit sector by storm.

Also available in 30g handypacks Cheese and Smoky Bacon �avours.

Independent Biscuits and Snacks category advice to boost your sales

www.ubperfectstore.com

Don’t be the odd one out – stock both flavours!

NEWFrom Jacob’s

They’re baked.They’re crispy.They’ll sell.

Sharing bags 125g Smoky Bacon

125g Cheese

Oddities Spar ad chosen.indd 1 03/01/2012 17:03

An initiative to boost a Bideford store’s sales of SPAR own brand products has had an immediate impact and drawn positive comments from regular customers.

Regional Sales Manager Christine Edwards and merchandiser Matt Pick undertook the project at Teresa Blight’s forecourt store in a bid to improve its 13.8% SPAR own brand sales, which were behind the national average of 23%.

But within a very short time of the project’s completion, her SPAR own brand sales have now hit the national average figure, and are still growing.

Teresa, who doubled the size of the store two years ago in a redevelopment scheme with Appleby Westward, recognised the need to take action. “We noticed our customers buying habits had changed and with the right ranges in place, we are confident everything now meets their needs.”

Christine added: “While Matt and I were working in store there were a lot of positive comments from the regular customers and staff and they even

sold the first lot of coconut milk which surprised everyone!

“The overall aim of the project to increase SPAR brand awareness and penetration has been more than met, and we worked with Teresa to create a store which clearly shows the benefits of SPAR brand to its customers.”

The benefit for Teresa has been the opportunity for increased margin and gross profit, increased customer loyalty with a better price perception of SPAR and the encouragement to increase their basket spend, with up to 900 lines to choose from across the S Budget, West Country and SPAR own brand ranges.

Blights Motors has been based in Bideford for 77 years. A Ford franchise, the business was established in 1933 by Jack Blight and has run continually through successive generations. Teresa is wife of one of the garage partners and is actively involved in the forecourt store.

“We have come a long way,” said Teresa. “The forecourt originally had a very tiny shop which grew over the years to the modern convenience store it is today.”

“We noticed our customers buying

habits had changed and with the right

ranges in place, we are confident

everything now meets their needs.”

Before... After...

SPAR Brand Chilled Desserts are Back!SPAR Brand Chilled desserts are now back in stock!

We’ve brought back the Toffee and Rasberry sundaes and the Strawberry swirl cheesecake into the chilled desserts range. We have also added a NEW lemon swirl cheesecake, perfect for summer.

The full range of chilled desserts are now available to order with your multi temperature delivery.

SPAR Rasberry Sundae - 119088

SPAR Toffee Sundae - 118970

SPAR Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake - 118862

SPAR Lemon Swirl Cheesecake - 153503

SPAR Own Brand Revitalises Store

09

By purchasing SPAR Brand for your store you have the opportunity for increased margin

and gross profit, increased customer loyalty with a better price perception of SPAR and the

encouragement to increase their basket spend.

Nick Vivian, Head of Marketing and Customer Support for Appleby Westward presents a cheque for £9,914.48 to Karen Drew, Corporate Manager for the NSPCC in the region.

The fundraising represents £1,070 raised by Appleby Westward at its Christmas raffle, with the remainder raised by SPAR stores throughout the South West in recent months.

SPAR stores in the region also donated a further £8,500 to the NSPCC from a variety of fundraising efforts throughout 2011.

The NSPCC and CHILDREN 1ST in Scotland is the chosen charity for SPAR throughout the UK and the company’s activities have raised £2.6 million for the charity over the past five years.

Nick said: “SPAR is at the heart of local communities and plays a key role in helping the NSPCC raise awareness among local customers about protecting children and preventing child abuse in the UK.

“As a business, we have been passionate about supporting the NSPCC and are delighted that our stores and employees here at Appleby Westward remain dedicated to the vital national campaign to bring an end to child cruelty.”

Staff at a SPAR store in Three Legged Cross staged an event in-store to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of former owner David Smith.

The store offered customers festive fare throughout the day, received donations for visitors to see Santa and sold raffle tickets, raising £113.

Neal Williams, from Macmillan Caring Locally is pictured receiving the cheque from store manager Zena Street (Centre) and Sue Buckley, Regional Sales Manager for Appleby Westward.

If you would like help in running an event instore, or assistance

with PR then please speak to your RSM or call Liz Coad on 01752 854011

Take the Gold Challenge today

Warm up for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by taking part in a Gold Challenge. Try your hand at five, 10 or 20 Olympic sports – the funds you raise through sponsorship will transform children’s lives. You could also win a once-in-a-lifetime chance to run the 100m in the Olympic Stadium before the Games. The top 72 participants who raise the most funds before 29 February will win a place in this competition.

Register today at www.goldchallenge.org

Appleby Westward Raises New Funds for NSPCC

Event Raises Funds in Memory

of Former Store Owner

11

Businessman Amir Sattari has opened his fifth SPAR store in Hampshire - in a former pub in Portsmouth.

The New Roebuck, a former Victorian street corner pub, was originally owned by the Pike Spicer Brewery before becoming part of the

Brickwoods Brewery estate in the 1930s, which was later acquired by Whitbread. Diminishing trade saw the pub close last year.

Amir acquired the building, converting the upstairs accommodation into three flats and redeveloping the

pub as a modern 1,800 sq. ft. SPAR neighbourhood value convenience store.

He has introduced coffee and a food-to-go service, with a turboserve offering hot food, a large fruit and vegetable selection and a wide range of value products, including SPAR’s new S Brand value range. He has also installed eco-friendly chiller cabinets with doors for his entire range of chilled products.

Amir and his wife Jane began trading in their first SPAR store at Emsworth twenty five years ago before developing a second store in Osborne Road, Southsea. A third store was opened in Trafalgar House in Middle Street, Southsea in 2007, and two years ago a 2,500 sq. ft. neighbourhood value store was developed in Queen Street, Portsmouth, which is run by their son

Reece.

“The redevelopment of the New Roebuck has created a superb new SPAR neighbourhood store,” said Nick Kenworthy, Sales & Marketing Director for Appleby Westward. “It is a demonstration of how co-investment with us can really deliver outstanding state-of-the-art stores to give Retailers increased profit margin.”

Appleby Westward has invested over £10 million in co-investment development schemes with independent SPAR stores throughout the South West in the last five years. The company has set aside a further £2 million for similar schemes with its Retailers during 2012.

Dorset SPAR store owner Mark Oliver was looking at ways to reduce costs in 2012 when he suddenly hit on a great saving – thanks to a conversation with one of his customers.

“I knew 2012 was going to be a tough year in all areas of my business – sales, margin, wages and all the day-to-day running costs,” said Mark. “I was looking at ways of reducing my energy costs, which were about £1,700 a month, when I got talking to one of my customers who runs a business called Low Energy Designs.

“They came out to my store and measured what my current usage was purely on my lighting and it worked out at 14,813 kWh. We estimated that new low

energy lights would bring my usage down to 3257 kWh. ”

New lights were fitted, which took about half a day with no disruption to trading and the effects were immediate. “Heat was reduced significantly as my ceiling is rather low, so I will save money on air conditioning in the summer, and the displays in the produce and fridges look brighter and crisper, as do the grocery and non food areas,” said Mark.

“I’ve had a few customers ask me if the shop was bigger! The life of the individual lights works out on my usage at about eight to ten years, so no more changing fluorescent tubes or lights flickering.”

Mark said grants were available to assist

with lighting projects, which are funded by the European Regional Development Fund, who contribute 50% of the costs. “Retailers should contact their Regional Sales Manager for more details,” he said. “It’s well worth the effort.”

Sattari Roebuck

Mark Oliver

SPAR Store Opens in Former Pub

Mark Sees The Light

“Retailers should contact their Regional Sales Manager for more details”

The total UK Dog Market is worth £757M with 1.6% growth in 2011, split between wet, dry and treating. Wet dog food is the largest in this category and is worth £325m. However 76% of dog owners feed their dogs with complete dry food and this is on the increase, hence this is a must stock commodity. For the last two years the treating market has been in significant growth and this category is now extremely important.

Important insight Category Advice to consider when planning in store:

Consumers are now mixing diets and feeding both wet and dry foods•

‘Lifestage’ is a key consideration. Consumers buy for younger or senior • pets

8.3 million dogs in the UK so huge potential for custom•

Consumers do not generally trade down on their pets and seeks their • preferred brand etc

Convenience stores are a great place for consumers to purchase pet food • (location to store)

Treats are a ‘booming’ area of the sector and more consumers are picking • them up

Pet Range Review - DogUseful hints and tips

Pet Range Review - CatUseful hints and tips

The total UK Cat Market is worth £823.4M with 1.9% growth in 2011. Areas of change are Wet Cat (cans) which is in serious decline, with the main areas of increase being Premium Cat products and Treats. Lifestage is also important for consumers and an availability consideration. Single Serve Pouches are worth the greatest value in the whole of Pet Care with 32% of the entire market.

Important insight Category Advice to consider when planning in store:

More than half of British Households keep a pet•

Average Pet Food shopper basket spend is 82% higher than the average • Convenience Store basket

A Pet Food Shopper will visit Convenience stores once a week, far more • frequently than the average shopper

85% know which brand they intend to purchase before they even enter the • store

If a preferred product is unavailable 73% will leave the store (availability • and correct range is crucial)

Pet Food Shoppers are loyal to their preferred brand/ pack size/ flavour • and format

13

To view the updated Planograms for this range please visit the website at www.swspar.com and click on the planograms link within the members area.

Dates for your Diary

Tradeshow 2012 Thursday 3rd May

Miami 2012

St Patrick’s Day Saturday 17th March

Mother’s Day Sunday 18th March

Clocks go forward 1 hour Sunday 25th March

Good Friday Friday 6th April

Easter Sunday Sunday 8th April

Easter Bank Holiday Monday 9th April

Wessex Guild Meeting Tuesday 17th April

St George’s Day Monday 23rd April

Appleby Tradeshow (Westpoint Arena, Exeter) Thursday 3rd May

May Day Bank Holiday Monday 7th May

Spring Bank Holiday Monday 4th June

Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II (Bank Holiday) Tuesday 5th June

Father’s Day Sunday 17th June

UEFA European Football Championship Friday 8th June

Appleby Golf Day (St Mellion Resort) Wednesday 4th July

Olympics (opening ceremony) Friday 27th July

SPAR National Conference (Miami) 23rd October – 3rd November

Appleby Conference 2013 (Cyprus, Limassol) 12th June – 15th June

The 2012 Appleby Westward Tradeshow promises once again to be another spectacular event in keeping with its position as the best retail convenience show in the South West.

Key speakers this year will be Leo Crawford, Chairman of Appleby Westward Group Ltd, Mark McCammond, Managing Director of Appleby Westward, Debbie Robinson, SPAR UK Managing Director and guest speaker Fuzz Ahmed, UKA coach.

The best way to book for Miami is to use the online booking system.

Visit the website and book now, www.sparconvention-blueprint.com . However, for those Retailers that do not have access to the web then a hard copy of the booking form can be used.

For any further details please contact Liz Coad on 01752 854011.

Virtual Academy Updates

Fresh Start for Growth

Visit the Virtual Academy to keep up to date.

Recent updates include:

Government to stop excessive business rate hikes•

New tobacco display ban•

The Government’s responsibility deal•

WEEE Legislation and your obligations•

SPAR Brand speciality breads and summertime range•

Smart Savings • - Serve Legal - Bluefin Insurance - Smart Savings

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee 2012•

Unfair dismal qualifying period to rise from April•

To visit the Virtual Academy please go to www.sparacademy.co.uk

If you have forgotten your password then please contact Customer Support on 01752 854099 who will be able to

provide a reminder for you.

Two south coast SPAR stores have benefited from minor makeovers after their Regional Sales Managers stepped in to help with new merchandising.

Mr Thavarajah, who runs a SPAR store in Swanage, and Kruti Shah who has a store in Chandlers Ford, have both seen the benefits after remerchandising activity revitalised their offer to customers.

Thava runs a forecourt store at the Triangle Garage in Victoria Road and his RSM Sue Buckley, along with merchandiser Helen Baker, have been working with him to enhance displays in his 1,500 sq. ft. store, which he converted to SPAR five years ago.

“I’m very happy with what they have done – it has been a question of only making a number of small changes, but they are significant ones and customers can see displays much better,” he said.

At Chandlers Ford, RSM Mike Burnett helped Kruti Shah remerchandise her store and she is happy with the response from her customers.

She said: “I have a Co-op shortly opening across the road from us and I have been working with Mike to improve the look and feel of the store, so that we give the customers exactly what they need. The use of end bays and planograms are something I am not very good at, but with

Mike’s help we have used these and put an S Budget bay back in. The store looks so much better so sales should start to grow because of it.”

Vince Brown, Head of Sales for Appleby Westward, said: “The work at these two stores provides a good example of what can be done to improve the overall look and feel by simply taking a fresh look at the merchandising. You don’t always have to spend lots of money to boost your business, and this is a demonstration of how we are here to help support retailers in their businesses with practical help and support to drive their sales.”

If you would like help

transforming your store

then please contact your

RSM

Before...

After...

After...Before...

Our Best Price

£1 Value

You will have now all recieved your ‘Our Best Price’ brochure.

Following the success of our ‘Winter Bonus’ we have amended the ‘Our Best Price’ programme accordingly. We will continue to benchmark ourwholesale costs against our competition to ensure that you get “Our Best Price”, and will offer you the best price whether it is a National Promotion Price or “Our Best Price”.

We urge you all to support “Our Best Price” programme, so we can extend the range included and reduce our wholesale costs even further if we can, through real partnership working together.

£1 Stickers are now available from the Print Room to help highlight all those great offers available on promotion

Also, why not keep your £1 Gondola End in place to display some of these great deals?

Why not look at other £1 products in-store that you can also promote with the stickers.

To order these stickers please contact the Print Room:

Phone: 01752 854035

Email: print@applebywestward.co.uk

500g

2Ltr - full cases only

100g

80s

300g

150g

2Ltr

500ml

330ml25cl

New WSP £16.39

NEW RSP £2.40

New WSP £31.45

NEW RSP £2.99

New WSP £15.89

NEW RSP £1.69

New WSP £8.65

NEW RSP £2.19

New WSP £7.39

NEW RSP 75p

New WSP £3.44

NEW RSP £1.49

New WSP £27.42

NEW RSP £2.69

New WSP £12.39

NEW RSP £1.35

New WSP Coca Cola Reg £13.13Other Variants £13.97NEW RSP £1.19

New WSP £17.29

NEW RSP £1.30

Store Makeovers Make a Difference

15

Appleby Westward Group LimitedForge Lane, Moorlands Trading EstateSaltash, Cornwall PL12 6LX

www.swspar.com T: 01752 854000 F: 01752 854067

SPAR West Country Cider

West Country Cider is made from West Country grown apples, which are pressed then slowly fermented to produce a light and refreshing cider.

Six years ago John and Kim Coulson were fish merchants supplying Marks & Spencer from their business based at Newlyn fishing port. With a growing family of 5 children they needed a bigger house! By chance they found a derelict farmhouse on the edge of Penzance and decided to buy it - along with 23 acres, 2 cottages and 2 barns for conversion.

After meeting an award winning Cornish wine maker they decided to plant vines and create their own Cornish vineyard and orchard, now they create our great tasting Cider.

Available from P16