Hancocks to begin reopening shuttered cash & carries

• The depots are reopening on a reduced-hours basis from 10am-4pm Monday to Friday

• Hancocks expects its e-commerce business to continue to grow over the coming weeks

Hancocks has begun reopening the cash & carry depots it temporarily shuttered in March in response to the coronavirus crisis.

The specialist confectionery wholesaler is this week opening three of its 19 cash & carries. The Birmingham, Glasgow and Watford reopenings follow a trial at its Manchester site earlier this month. All four depots will now be open on a reduced-hours basis from 10am-4pm Monday to Friday.

The Loughborough-based wholesaler said it will continue to open more of its branches over the coming weeks in line with social distancing guidelines.

While its physical stores have been closed for almost two months, the wholesaler said its online sales have doubled over the same period. To mitigate inconvenience to retailers, the wholesaler lowered its online minimum spend to £35 and reduced the free delivery threshold from £500 to £250.

“Our Hancocks e-commerce business is performing strongly, online sales have doubled since the lockdown began and we have responded to meet all Hancocks cash & carry customer orders,” said a spokesman.

“With hundreds of orders being processed and delivered daily and some fantastic customer feedback, we anticipate this to only grow over the coming weeks. We’re working hard to consistently maintain high availability, service and product range online.”