There was a scary start for Ruddington’s new-look Co-op food store today as holidaying children from our two village schools dressed up in Hallowe’en outfits for the official ‘reopening’.
Pupils from James Peacock and St Peter’s Schools gathered together for a ribbon-cutting ceremony (top) which marked the end of an extensive nine week programme of works at our Church Street supermarket, costing over one million pounds. However the 6,000 square foot store, which supports up to 30 local jobs and runs on 100% renewable electricity, remained open throughout the refurbishment.
The remodelled Co-op has seen EVERYTHING replaced except the floor! It includes a bakery, Costa Coffee and Amazon Lockers, alongside a new focus on fresh, healthy foods, chilled products in new energy-saving cabinets, a food-to-go area, vegan and ‘free-from’ foods and a new hot food offering. These complement its previous range of wines and beers, meal ideas, household essentials and the continuation of its popular home delivery service.
Another significant change is the addition of new self-service tills alongside the staffed kiosk and checkouts. However, Co-op Store Manager, Chris Bradbury, promises they’re only optional: “When we get busy we’ve now got eight tills instead of five, so basically we can serve customers faster. For people who want to get though quickly they’re there to use. For people who don’t want to use them we’ve still got manned tills” he explains.
On the refurbishment, Chris adds: “Because we’re a community store, and know a lot of people rely on us, we decided to trade through for nine weeks instead of closing for four weeks. So thank you to all the people who’ve put up with the disruption, and we hope you’ll see it’s been worth it in the end! Our aim is for the store to operate at the heart of local life, a community hub making a real difference locally.”
To that end, Ruddington Co-op provides a funding boost for local causes through its Membership scheme – with Ruddington District Girl Guiding, NG11 Foodbank and the Together@Clifton just announced as the local recipients for the next twelve months. It also offers a 10% discount off groceries to TOTUM cardholders (the new name for the NUS extra card) to support students during their studies.
Co-op Regional Manager, Danny Howarth, was also at today’s relaunch. He told RUDDINGTON.info: “It’s just a happy coincidence that it fell on Hallowe’en so we’re delighted that the children came along dressed up this morning to celebrate the opening. It was brilliant! We’re really proud now of what we’ve got to offer the customers and community in Ruddington.”
Ruddington Co-op’s opening hours at 38, Church Street are Monday to Saturday from 6am to 10pm and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.
