The Candover Valley Store in July and August
It is hard to believe that the Candover Valley Store is in its 10th week of trading! We are delighted with how well the store has been received and our trading figures for the first two months are well above target. We are getting to grips with running costs as we settle into a steady operating pattern but initial figures indicate we are on a balanced track. In July the post office was busy with an average 179 transactions each week and best-selling items in the store included cups of coffee; cake; sandwiches, pies, bread, greetings cards, bananas, eggs and green eco products. While we expect August to be a quieter month, we are pleased that the school holidays have not affected sales unduly.
Volunteers
We are so grateful for the help of all our volunteers (whether behind the till, stacking shelves, collecting stock or being part of the maintenance team) and we would like to thank everyone for doing their bit to support the store. We really could not run the store without them and they have had to cope with some challenging moments in the last few weeks – everything from exploding beer bottles, high temperatures, chiller, freezer and till malfunctions and the intricacies of the coffee machine.
Dry cleaning, weekend newspapers, crisp packet recycling and refillable cleaning products
Please make a note of our additional services. Barkers collect dry cleaning from the store early on Wednesday mornings and return it the following Wednesday. The quickest turnaround is 8 days (Tuesday drop off) and the slowest 15 days (Thursday drop off). We also take orders for Saturday and Sunday newspapers – let us have your order by Friday and we’ll have it ready for you to collect in store. As a registered crisp packet recycling centre, bring in your empty, flattened crisp packets and we will recycle these for you. By the end of August, the store will also be offering refillable cleaning products. So come and visit our beautiful new store and post office and see what’s on offer.
We look forward to welcoming you.
