In this issue:

Cider Festival Photos

S Budget Phase Two Launch

Selling Tips For Your Store

Store Adds Subway Franchise

Get Ready For Your Delivery

Wine Event 2012 Information

Y ur SPAR

September 6 2012Issue 08

BRINGING YOU THE LATEST IN NEWS, UPDATES & EVENTS

Y ur SPARHello All,

Well, I think most of us can probably agree that our summer weather wasn’t all we hoped it would be..... and with that in mind I’m sure that many of you will be turning to your RSM for thoughts and ideas on how best to generate as many additional sales as possible, and taking full advantage of the up and coming events like Halloween and Christmas. In this edition there are plenty of ideas for sales increasing activity including promotional activity and new products.

Also, with summer over and maybe summer temporary staff finishing after the season, now is a good time to look at the staffing side of your business. Don’t forget that the National Minimum Wage will be going up again on 1st October 2012. The new adult rate is set to be £6.19 per hour.

The best place to find information on the new National Minimum Wage and other similar topics is to look at the Virtual Academy (www.sparacademy.co.uk). All Retailers have access to this website and you can find all sorts of information on legal issues, in store queries and recent updates.

For more details on what has been updated recently and how you can access the website then please see below.

Regards,

Jo Findlay Human Resources Director

Jo Findlay Human Resources Director

The SPAR Virtual AcademyRecent updates to the SPAR Virtual Academy include:

Reporting accidents in your store•

Managing redundancy for pregnant employees, or those on maternity leave•

New workplace pension changes•

PayPoint security notice•

Alcohol fraud•

False ID guidelines•

Sales of goods act•

News from SPAR Brand•

Operation Excellence•

To visit the SPAR Virtual Academy please go to www.sparacademy.co.ukIf you have forgotten your password then please contact Customer Support on

01752 854099 who will be able to provide a reminder for you.

September 06 2012 Issue 08

Hi everyone,

The end of our ‘summer’ is approaching (or will September be the start?)!

Ok, it has not been a great summer to date by any stretch of the imagination, but as with everything else there is always something positive to take. Having been away from the business for a couple of weeks I returned with a fresh set of eyes and renewed enthusiasm. It is surprising (and worrying) how much we can miss or overlook through viewing the same four walls day in day out.

This time away has helped me to re-focus on the details that were not receiving attention before I went away. So I guess my message is to perhaps try the same; have a critical look around your store, especially if you have been away on holiday and use your restored energy levels to get back to where you want to be.

Back in the Promotion 5 brochure there was a list of over 40 different lines that could be used on clip strips throughout the store and I was wondering

a) How many people have seen it?

b) How many have done anything about it?

My background prior to coming back to our family business near Bristol, was running large DIY stores where clip strips were a way of life. Paint brushes in the paint aisles, wallpaper paste next to the wallpaper etc… – you get the picture. Whilst we rarely have the same adjacencies as those just detailed, there are still big opportunities in our stores. It is an easy way of gaining a little more sales area in our stores and to perhaps double, triple, quadruple some lines around the shop.

We have gone whole heartedly for clip strips in store, we have purchased some that have little spring clips on them to allow product that does not have a euro slot in the packaging to be displayed. For us this means Walkers crisps by the sandwiches, large bagged crisps by the off licence, bottle bags by the off licence, Naan bread by the chilled curries, all purpose cloths in the grocery aisle etc… etc… etc…

Some of the lines listed are pre-loaded so really only require emptying from the box and pricing like the 3 Haribo lines, the 4 Swizzel sweets lines and Pork Scratchings. Merchandising does not get any simpler than this and these are additional sales as we have them throughout the shop.

We have a strip every other bay throughout the shop and sales are starting to really climb.

If you are not giving these a go already, then give it a try as they do work.

Thinking to the future have you seen details of the next Wessex Guild Convention? This time a trip to Cyrpus, in the resort of Limassol has been planned and it’s always a great chance to meet other Retailers, Suppliers and members of staff from Appleby Westward. It’s also a great reason for getting out of your store for the benefits mentioned above. Make sure you check out your booking form, which you should have received, for more details.

All the best,

Justin Taylor Guild Member

Justin Taylor Wessex Guild Member

03

Cider Festival 2012 Your Photos

Thank you all for your great support for the Cider Festival.Keep an eye out for details of the winners, coming soon!

GET YOUR

STAFF

INVOLVED

GREAT WINDOW DISPLAY

OFFER SAMPLES IN

STORE

THEME

YOUR

DISPLAYS

05

SPAR Move Pays Off For Forecourt Store

A New Forest forecourt store has seen a 17% uplift in sales in the first few weeks of trading after transferring its business to SPAR.

Sean Denman, who owns Hordle Garage near New Milton, chose SPAR when he decided to modernise his forecourt store to create a better convenience offer for the local community.

In a co-investment project with Appleby Westward work got underway to increase the size of the 550 sq. ft. store by nearly 60% and the results have been instant.

“I am delighted, we have shown a 17% increase in sales already and as we develop our offer still further I am sure the store will take off even more,” said Sean, who has run the garage business for the last six years.

The store now offers an expanded chilled offer with fresh meats, a wide range of fresh fruit and vegetables, an extended grocery offer, food-to-go, bean-to-cup coffee, a full range of news, magazines and cards, and a wide variety

of promotional offers.

Sean is now working to boost sales still further. He is awaiting the installation of a National Lottery terminal, and when the store receives its alcohol licence, business is bound to take off even more dramatically. “Having the Lottery and an Off Licence will definitely increase footfall and stimulate extra sales for us,” he said.

“I’m delighted we made the change and it was a natural progression to decide to brand the store under the SPAR fascia. SPAR is a highly recognised brand worldwide and in our part of the New Forest we attract lots of holidaymakers. As a result, customers trust the brand and know what they are getting. It seemed natural to go forward with them.”

Sean was full of praise for the support he received from the Appleby Westward team in bringing the new store to fruition. “The whole team have been superb and really supportive throughout the whole project and I couldn’t have asked for

better,” he said. “I am extremely happy with the end result. Most importantly, our customers love what we have done too.”

Sean Denman

William Wins Day Out At The Oval

Store Supports Local School

William LeVaillant, who runs the SPAR Bridgwater Service Station at Dundry, near Bristol, was delighted to win a day out at the Oval for the Test match between England and South Africa.

He won the prize draw in a promotion for SPAR stores run by Westons Cider, the Herefordshire drinks firm. He is pictured here receiving his tickets from Westons Business Development Manager Heather Mead.

Stowford Press is the official cider of England cricket and is also William’s best selling canned cider. He enjoyed a rain-free first day’s play at the Oval, where he saw England get off to a great start with Alastair Cook scoring his 20th Test century.

Helen Spilsted, who runs the Summersdale Garage at Chichester, stepped in to help with a sports day kit and bottles of SPAR water when the village primary school at Lavant held its annual sports day.

“We supplied 120 bottles of SPAR water and although the weather was uncertain, they were very lucky and managed to hold the event between showers,” said Helen.

Pat Whyman and Audrey Lashly from the store are pictured here with some of the children.

Pat Whyman and Audrey Lashly With Pupils of Lavant Primary School Heather Mead & William LeVallant

new!

get real refreshmentINTRODUCING A NEW 4.5% CRISPLY DELICIOUSCOLD FILTERED CIDER FROM CARLSBERG UK

AVAILABLE NOW IN6 x 4 x 440ml Can

ENJOY RESPONSIBLY DRINKAWARE.CO.UK

65967 Spar - Somersby Cover Advert A4.indd 1 17/08/2012 12:18

07

179452

£2.22

179560

£1.79

182976

£1.34

172792

69p

Proven Success: Since Launch, S Budget has seen wholesale sales of over £6m. The highly anticipated phase 2 launch will help grow S Budget to a £10m brand.

Best Selling Line: S Budget Energy Drink has sold 2 million singles since launch.

Wide Range: S Budget offers customers a great range of everyday essentials at great value prices. Phase 2 will include further grocery, fresh and household lines added to the range.

Competitive Prices: S Budget prices continue to be monitored regularly and adjusted to ensure we are always competitive.

Guaranteed Margin: At least 20% margin on all products.

More details coming soon on this exciting new range!

Frozen Price Marked RangeWe have listened to Retailer feedback and are pleased to announce that we have expanded our Frozen Price Marked Range. With the majority of our Frozen Food Range now price marked this makes the shopping experience much easier for customers.

Full details of this range can be found by asking your RSM.

Theme Stands

Sales Activity In Your StoreThere are many ways that you can improve sales within your store. Below are some of the initiatives

we have introduced this year, which you should be considering for your store.

Till Upsells

Clip Strips

S Budget

Theme Stands are available on an allocation basis. Each Promotion period you will be allocated a selection of stock and POS to raise awareness of events and seasonal activity in store.

Till Upsells provide an opportunity for incremental sales and encourages interaction with customers.

According to recent research by HIM!, suggestive selling by staff can increase promotional penetration by as much as three times and drive impulse purchasing by 100%.

Clip Strips are a great way to display extra stock within your store. Highlight impulse lines in related areas to your customers.

Every Promotion period we will display a selection of current Clip Strips within the Bulletin.

SPAR’s S Budget range is the perfect way to drive the value message in your store. You can promote these great lines with Gondola End Kits and Roundalls which are available to order.

Phase 2 is being launched in P8, of which further details can be found within this issue of Your SPAR.

09

Lunch Meal Deal

Fresh For Less

£1 ValueThe Lunch Time Meal Deal not only increases footfall into your store but also helps to increase basket spend.

Customers are drawn to stores that offer lunch deals, especially those stores near offices, schools, colleges and universities.

POS kits are available to order and you can purchase further ‘I’m in the deal’ stickers from the Print Room.

With every customer increasing their awareness of a healthy lifestyle, many more customers are looking for a great selection of fruit and vegetables. However with pennies still being tight, customers are always on the look out for a good deal.

The Fresh For Less motto of ‘5 great fresh products for £1 each’ is a brilliant way to drive home the value message to customers.

Fresh for Less Stands are available free of charge if you sign up to recieve allocations. Every promotion period you will receive a guaranteed minimum five produce lines at only £1. These all feature on the leaflet, so customers will be looking for these products.

Every customer likes a good deal and by offering a £1 range the value message is reinforced within your store.

POS support is available to order with a Gondola End Kit and Roundals available to order.

There will also be an upcoming focus on the £1 range running throughout P8.

PRODUCE

Featured on P6 leaflet: These will NOT be allocated to you. Please order on the codes shown in the table on the right.

Produce on offer in P6:

The Team Of Litter Pickers

Wembury Beach Benefits From Dedicated Local CommunityStaff from Gillett’s SPAR Wembury and Appleby Westward teamed up with Rangers from the National Trust to take part in a litter pick.

The team braved the typical British summer’s weather, picked up their litter grabbers and bin liners and ventured onto Wembury Beach, to pick up rubbish and debris that had accumulated on the beach.

“Believe it or not, I had a very interesting morning with my SPAR colleagues on Wembury Beach clearing up litter. It’s amazing what you find, it was worthwhile to help the local community and the National Trust to keep the beach impeccable for its visitors. And not to mention keeping the sea clean for the marine life, especially the sea horses” said Nicky Edge, HR Co-Ordinator for Appleby Westward.

Store manager Callum Fairnie said: “It was great to see everyone pulling together for a great cause and having fun at the same time.”

The National Trust is a charity that works to preserve and protect historic places. Carrying out litter picks on the beach with groups and running school projects, they are working to raise awareness of the real problems and how litter affects the marine wildlife.

Emma Reece, National Trust Ranger said “Marine litter is a real problem for wildlife; they mistake it for food and eat it, and can also get caught in it, among many other problems”.

SPAR stores can play a key role within their

communities, to help raise awareness of local issues. Try arranging your own litter pick in your local area, redecorating a community hall or something similar.

The National Trust is always willing to hear from volunteers and have numerous projects which you can get involved in.

Get In The NewsLocal PR is beneficial to SPAR stores. Exposure in local newspapers builds awareness, communicates with potential customers, helps drive footfall, and it can increase sales and generally raise the profile of the store.

The above article was generated by Gillett’s Wembury and Appleby Westward working together to make their community better. From this, a press release was created by Appleby Westward which was picked up by The Plymouth Herald. As this is considered as a news story, it’s absolutely free.

However if you chose to advertise in your local paper like this, it could be costly. A half page advertisement in The Herald would normally cost over £1000. Remember, the store achieved this level of advertising completely free and you could do the same. It was simple enough, we sent a couple of emails and before we knew it we were all heading out to Wembury Beach for a litter pick, it was that easy.

For more information or help arranging your own community event please speak to your RSM or contact Liz Coad on 01752 854011 or email lcoad@applebywestward.co.uk

11

Yoghurt & Deserts Range Review

New Florette Salad Range

The Yoghurts & Desserts Market is worth £186m per year in the convenience sector, and is up by 5.7% year on year.

Cream is worth £21m per year in convenience and is also up by 5.7%. The convenience market is growing faster in all market sectors driven by the increasing trend towards shoppers frequenting smaller stores more regularly.

Customers are increasingly looking for value for money, so promotions will play an increasingly important part of the market. SPAR Brand is also ideally placed for customers looking for a more value oriented range.

Treats and health are high priorities for consumers, they want to enjoy the occasional treat while thinking about their health. Many shoppers see yoghurts as a healthier alternative to sweets and cakes and will buy them as a treat, while others are more health conscious and will look for nutritional products such as 0% fat and natural yoghurts.

Shoppers are often on auto pilot when shopping and many will repeatedly buy the same brand on each visit, often even buying the same variety each time. It is therefore important to introduce new ranges to keep the offer up-to-date and prevent the range becoming stale, whilst ensuring you keep a consistent core range available. Supplementing this with plenty of promotions will help to drive sales.

The new planograms for this range can be found online by visiting www.swspar.com

The new range of Florette fruit and salad is now available to order, via your chilled order. These products are great to stock in store to encourage healthy eating. The Meal Deal items make perfect additions to your lunch time range. Please use the codes below:

195118 195993

195777

195334

195550

196200

196109

195226

195442

SPAR Store Adds Subway FranchiseA Cornwall store has added a Subway franchise to its retail offer.

The store at Helston, run by Chris and Sue Sharrinton, has introduced Subway to complement its existing successful food-to-go operation and attract a wider customer base.

“We have been looking for some time to add something fresh and different to our food-to-go offer, and we chose Subway as a partner because it is such a strong brand name,” said Chris.

“Subway has a trendy appeal and will attract younger customers to the store, as well as enhancing our overall offer. We have created 300 sq. ft. of space for the Subway operation, and will still be selling our own popular range of hot food,

pasties, sausage rolls and bacon baps, alongside cassette sandwiches, ensuring that our existing range is not drastically reduced.”

Chris and Sue worked alongside Appleby Westward for the installation of the Subway offer. Appleby Westward also worked with another of its Retailers, Julian Holliss when he installed the franchise in his petrol forecourt store in Dartmouth.

“We have given the licence to trade in the store to a very experienced Subway operator, and it will trade the same hours as the store,” said Chris. “We are confident it will attract new customers to the store and enhance our offer,

introducing a strong retail brand the major multiples cannot offer.”

Chris and Sue plan to introduce another large brand offer to their customers in September with the launch of a Costa Express in store. “Customers are shopping more and more for brands which they can trust and SPAR, Subway and Costa are all large brands which we feel can all work together, providing a complete offer,” he said.

They have been encouraged by results so far ‘Although the Subway has only been trading a few weeks we can see that it has improved the overall offer that the store has in many respects. We see far more “younger” customers

who would not normally shop in SPAR, they now see it as trendy and are quite surprised what we have to offer.’

‘Around 50% of the Subway c u s t o m e r s also buy other products from us and if this is just one item that can add up to a lot of extra turnover per week. We have

noticed that our off-license sales have increased and we believe that this is due to this extra footfall especially with the evening trade.’

‘With regards to our existing hot food and sandwiches we have seen a tail off in sales of about 20% but the profit on that is more than compensated by extra sales of product in the store and the extra footfall that the Subway brings.’

‘As I have said this is still early days but we are confident that this is the right partnership to have, it will grow and safeguard the future of the store. This would not be for every store within SPAR but there are a lot of stores out there that this would enhance. SPAR is a strong

brand, Subway is a strong brand and by working together we can both prosper.’

Subway has more than 36,000 independently-owned stores in 100 countries, operated by franchisees and the UK is the largest market outside North America with over 1,425 outlets.

Earlier this year, the company announced plans to increase the number of Subway stores in the UK and Ireland to 2,000 over the next three years, creating around 6,000 new jobs.

Sharrinton Helston With It’s New Look Facia

Subway Has Proved Popular In Store

13

Hello Everyone,

Are there times when you wonder where your delivery is? Did you know there are some very simple things you can do that will help to keep delays to a minimum?

On each route, if the driver is delayed by just 10 minutes at each store, he could well be delayed 2 or even 3 hours towards the end of the route. If your store is at the end of a route affected we can only imagine how frustrating that can be.

So how can we all help prevent this? Do you have procedures in place?

Are you ready for your delivery?Just before your delivery is due have a quick check to see that you have everything ready.

CagesPlease condense your cages and place inside another cage. Our RSM’s recently had some Training and were shown best practice so feel free to ask your RSM.

PaperworkEnsure all your paperwork is ready – Claims forms, complaint forms. Have all returned stock ready for your driver to take away as well. Remember that any damaged and/or ordered in error ambient goods need to be called or emailed through to Credit Control and the relevant paperwork raised. Make sure you collect your blue Post Bag from your driver while handing back your empty one.

We all know of course that our drivers are great and should you all have those rare spare moments then a cup of tea and a chat are a must.

Just by remembering some of these handy hints and working together as a team we can all help to improve the service within SPAR – Your SPAR!

Regards,

Regional Sales Manager

Sue Buckley’s Top TipsPreparing For Your Delivery

Sue Buckley

Extended Flower Range - Now AvailableWe now have an extended range of flowers and pot plants available with your Multi Temperature deliveries.

These flowers will be delivered in buckets within a cardboard box. They will need to be opened and more water added as soon as possible after delivery. There is no charge for these buckets, and they will not need to be returned for a credit.

For more details of this new range then please visit the website at www.swspar.com

Wine PR Update - August 2012

Wine Event 2012At the recent London International Wine Fair we won 135 awards across our Wine range. In P8 we will be holding a Wine Event to celebrate this and promote our award winners to customers by offering strong offers on these wines.

The Wine Event will include extra POS to communicate this and a window poster to shout about the quality of the range. More details of this Event can be found in your P8 Promotional Bulletin.

P8 Wine event

P8 Wine eventP8 Wine event

P8 Wine eventP8 Wine event

Dates For Your Diary

NSPCC Devon HACK Event Sunday 16th September

P8 Wine Event 20th September - 10th October

SPAR National Conference (Miami) 23rd October - 3rd November

Clocks Go Back One Hour Sunday 28th October

Halloween Wednesday 31st October

Wessex Guild Convention(Cyprus) Wednesday 12th - Saturday 15th June 2013

Tradeshow 2013 Thursday 17th October

Cyprus 2013

ChildLine has been in children’s lives for 25 years, providing help, support and hope to millions. SPAR wants to help it continue to be there for children, today and in the future. Here are some great fundraising ideas to celebrate ChildLine’s birthday.

Invite family, friends and customers to celebrate ChildLine’s 25th birthday in store. You could make birthday cakes and sell them to guests to raise funds.

Why not have an 80s inspired day at the store? Suggest everyone makes a donation to dress up in clothes from the 1980s - the decade ChildLine was founded.

Organise a quiz about music from the last 25 years. Arrange for a local pub to host the event and charge a team entrance fee.

To engage your customers and other local buisnesses, why not offer your advertising space as a way to raise funds? Let businesses know that all payments made to advertise on the noticeboard or window are being donated to ChildLine in celebration of its 25th year.

After the huge success of our last convention to Croatia in 2011, The Wessex Guild can now confirm the destination for 2013. The third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus.

Cyprus occupies an area of 9,250 sq km or 3,500 sq miles with a coastline that is around 400 miles long. We will be visiting the beautiful coastal town of Limassol.

The convention will give Retailers and suppliers the chance to catch up with old friends and also meet new ones all this whilst enjoying the mixture of business, relaxation and entertainment, in the beautiful location of Cyprus!

You will have all received your booking forms, so please ensure you return these to Liz Coad at Appleby Westward. Details can also be found on the website.

15

Have a Birthday Party

80s Mania

25 Years of Music

Window of Opportunity

Appleby Westward Group LimitedForge Lane, Moorlands Trading EstateSaltash, Cornwall PL12 6LX

www.swspar.com T: 01752 854000 F: 01752 854067