Key Lekkerland is resurrecting its KeyStore Express format in a bid to attract smaller independent retailers.

The buying group first launched the fascia 15 years ago but it was "lost" in a revamp in the mid 1990s, said MD John Liptrot.

Currently, retailers can only sign up to the KeyStore fascia if their store is a minimum size of 1,000 sq ft. However, for KeyStore Express, the minimum store size will be 500 sq ft.

Key Lekkerland aimed to open 50 KeyStore Express stores by 2008, said Liptrot.

Key Lekkerland member north east wholesaler WH & HM Young has already recruited six retailers to the new fascia. It has also committed to securing another five stores within three months, plus a further seven in the three-month period after that.

The first two stores will open in County Durham and Manchester in the next two weeks.

The new format will be a smaller version of the standard KeyStore concept, which is in 350 stores, and will be targeted at independents in forecourts, high streets and rural areas. KeyStore currently accounts for 12% of Key Lekkerland's national turnover, though the aim is to increase this to 20% by 2008 with expansion in the south east of England a priority.

Meanwhile, Key Lekkerland is also planning to replace its Smart Buy promotional programme with an initiative called Essentials, which will focus on impulse and distress grocery sales.

It has also fought off competition from P&H to renew its contract to supply the retail sites of motorway services operator Roadchef.