Nisa Local, Farnham

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Address: The Street, Farnham, GU10 1AA

Nisa local

Only 18 months after undergoing a full refit, this Nisa Local in the upmarket town of Farnham still has its gleamingly clean store exterior and slick, spacious interior packed full of supermarket-esque signposting, which made ticking off the shopping list both easy and quick.

The symbol

Owned by its independent retail members Nisa is “unique” says the group, with stores operating under one of four fascias, Nisa Local, Nisa Extra, Loco and dual-branded, “whereby a member can maintain their true local identity whilst also benefiting from the strength of the Nisa brand”.

Nisa provides a “complete retail support package”, which includes “a strong retail-focused team, an enhanced category management system, a bespoke staff training facility under the Retail Academy banner, and a comprehensive marketing package incorporating bespoke leaflets, point-of-sale material and national advertising” says the company.

This is coupled with “an unbeatable breadth of range comprising over 13,000 SKUs, with a 98% availability rate” and a 800-SKU strong own-label Heritage range. Members can also support their local communities through Nisa’s Making a Difference initiative, which donated £1.4m in 2016 to good causes throughout the UK.

Floor-to-ceiling refrigerators lined one wall at the front of the store with an array of soft drinks, alcohol, dairy and chilled meal options, many straight from Nisa’s Heritage own-label brand, leading into a huge ambient offering. With its vast range, including world foods, craft beers and fancy artisan bread, it would be perfectly possible for local Surrey residents to carry out the bulk of their weekly shop here, something the store encourages with mini trolleys as well as baskets on offer at the entrance way.

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A slushy maker, post office and hot dog machine were among the added services on offer, all lined up near the row of several tills – two of which were staffed despite the small number of customers on a drizzly January morning.

To top it off the cheerful cashier flagged up extra promotions on two items in the shopping list and apologised for the one missing item, the single pint of milk.

FOOD TO GO OFFER 3/5

Nisa Food

Plenty of chilled sandwiches, wraps and salads were stocked within easy grabbing distance of both the entrance and tills in this brand new store, in the perfect spots for consumers looking to grab something and go. The offer of heated Rollover American-style hot dogs was the best-looking option (£2), though. With plenty of fruit, cakes, crisps and confectionery nearby, we picked out a Cake Club Victoria sponge (£1) for afters and a San Pellegrino Lemonade (89p) too. The only disappointment was a lack of meal deal to pull it together.