Christmas sees tills jingling at the Heart of England Co-operative Society

The Heart of England Co-operative Society’s Food Division recorded like-for-like sales increases of 10.6 per cent over the festive period.

The snow, the prolonged cold snap throughout December and the Society’s ongoing investment programme are all attributed to the success of its sales performance in the three weeks of Christmas.

Christmas related foods and products showed strong sales across Society branches over the period.

And Peter Fletcher, General Manager of the Society’s Food Division, highlighted a number of stores which enjoyed exceptional sales.

These included The Co-operative at Long Lawford, near Rugby – the subject of a £1.3 million rebrand and rebuild programme in 2017 – which enjoyed sales increases of 95 per cent.

The Co-operative at Meriden, which underwent a £245,000 rebranding and refurbishment programme earlier this year, reported sales increases of 60 per cent.

And the Woodloes store in Warwick, Warwick Gates store, Balsall Common store and Cedar Road store in Nuneaton, all recorded sales of 18.3 per cent, 13 per cent, 12.6 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

Mr Fletcher said the heavy snow which struck earlier in December and again on Boxing Day, meant more consumers chose to stay close to home, shopping little and often for their groceries.

He added: “We are delighted with the sales performance of many of our individual stores. This pleasing performance over Christmas is in part down to the weather, with consumers preferring to shop locally rather than drive distances. But I think the outstanding performance of our most recently refurbished stores, in particular Long Lawford, demonstrates the success of our upgrading programme among customers who know, respect and trust The Co-operative brand.”

Elsewhere Tesco reported a 3.1 per cent rise in the 12 weeks before Christmas, while Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s recorded rises of 2.2 per cent, 2.1 per cent and two per cent respectively.

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