A Budgens retailer has been forced to close his store in Frinton-on-Sea after it was snubbed by residents.
Owner Dee Patel said he had decided to close the store because it wasn’t viable. “I have tried for 18 months with this store but it was making no money. The Budgens brand just didn’t work there,” he said.
“Frinton is an unusual area. We were getting the affluent customers in so Duchy Originals products, for example, were flying off shelves, but there was too much wastage on the value lines.”
Numerous attempts to promote the store had met with limited success, said Patel, although a free-range week in March had boosted sales of free-range chicken and eggs by 25%.
Patel said he would continue to run his pharmacy and five other Budgens stores in Essex and Suffolk.
His company Ben’s is number 50 in The Grocer’s ranking of Top 50 independent grocery retailers and his store in Woodbridge, Suffolk, is currently receiving a £1.8m makeover.
Owner Dee Patel said he had decided to close the store because it wasn’t viable. “I have tried for 18 months with this store but it was making no money. The Budgens brand just didn’t work there,” he said.
“Frinton is an unusual area. We were getting the affluent customers in so Duchy Originals products, for example, were flying off shelves, but there was too much wastage on the value lines.”
Numerous attempts to promote the store had met with limited success, said Patel, although a free-range week in March had boosted sales of free-range chicken and eggs by 25%.
Patel said he would continue to run his pharmacy and five other Budgens stores in Essex and Suffolk.
His company Ben’s is number 50 in The Grocer’s ranking of Top 50 independent grocery retailers and his store in Woodbridge, Suffolk, is currently receiving a £1.8m makeover.
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