CWS is to expand trials of its new market town store format south of the border. Pleased with initial results at two small Scottish stores in Aberlour and Dollar ­ which are said to be "impressive" ­ the co-operative society wants to try out the format at two larger stores in the Nottingham area. A spokesman said the latest pilot stores ­ at Buntingford and Netherfield ­ would help CWS decide if the new format was right. "We have to try it in a variety of store sizes and locations to see," he said. He would not expand on which elements of the format have been successful to date. CRS had also been doing some development work on its market town stores before the merger with CWS. And Co-op bosses are keen to use the experience of both societies to develop the best format. Chief executive Graham Melmoth said it would be "a little while" before the society could confirm its format for the market town stores. But he said the work was proceeding and the society's format would outperform the competition by more effectively matching customer aspirations. In the meantime, CWS has pressed ahead with the roll out of its Welcome format, with 120 c-stores converted to date. And it confirmed that the format would be introduced across the merged CWS/CRS c-store business. Home shopping is still being evaluated by CWS, with Melmoth saying "there are many complexities". He said the society would continue to evaluate a number of options before making any decision on whether to invest in this fast changing sector. - The Dividend loyalty card scheme could be altered to make it more in tune with the needs of convenience shoppers. The scheme is proving more popular with primary shoppers in larger stores, which are no longer a priority for the society. So the scheme is to be reassessed. An "alternative core offer" will be trialled in an incoming CRS region and, if successful, rolled out across CWS. A CWS spokesman stressed: "We're not dropping it, it's just that we're never content it's right and we want to move with the times." {{NEWS }}