Coming full circle at Abbots Cross

It’s fair to say retail is in the blood of Becky and Lucy McCammond – the new owners of Abbots Cross SPAR. With years of their own experience in retail and family also working in the industry, it was a natural transition for them to take over their own store.

Sisters and business partners, Becky and Lucy McCammond established their company B&L Retail in March of this year, having acquired Abbots Cross SPAR.

The shop, which has been trading since the early 1970s, was in need of extensive renovation and investment, which the pair were only too happy to do with the support of Henderson Group. Following an eight-week project schedule and investment of £620,000, the sisters opened the store to great acclaim and excitement in the community.

Having both worked in retail for more than a decade, Becky and Lucy were ready for this next step and were eager to show the community in Newtownabbey their retail credentials.

“Lucy and I have both worked in retail for over 10 years in a variety of different roles,” Becky told NR.

“I started off in The Body Shop, then Ashers and for the past 10 years I have worked in Henderson’s, across deli, Post Office, managing the Post Office and then the shop floor. Having this experience has really helped when we took over the shop, it made it that bit easier.”

While there has been no change to the size of the store itself, standing at 2,885 sq ft, the extensive refurbishment has resulted in dramatic changes to the floor plan, ultimately creating a larger-feeling store and allowing for a significant increase in the fresh food proposition in-store.

“The store does look bigger and the customers are noticing that,” said Becky.

“The Post Office had been at the back of the store and took up a lot of space. We moved that adjacent to the till area and it has opened up the back of the store, which has allowed us to use the space more effectively.

“We also moved the front door – it had been at the corner of the shop, so we moved it to the centre of the shop-front and it has allowed for more natural light to come into the shop.”

While they were anxious about the extent of the work and what obstacles they might encounter along the way, Becky said they were delighted that the work was completed within the tight eight-week schedule.

A complete strip-out, new eco-friendly refrigeration was installed, doubling refrigeration capacity, as well as new ceilings and low-energy lighting. Describing it as a challenging refit, Becky explained some last-minute changes were required to the floor plan, to allow for pillars that couldn’t be moved, but added the changes have “worked out perfectly”.

She was also quick to extend thanks to Henderson Group Project Manager, James Winter; main contractor Cathal Madden from CPC Contracts for his attention to detail during the refit, as well as assistance from BDM, Arlene Simmons, Project Manager Aaron McMahon and HWL Acquisitions Manager Duncan Smith from Henderson Group.

An exciting part of the expansion of store facilities was a state-of-the-art fresh food prep kitchen, thus expanding the fresh food offering available at Abbots Cross SPAR.

“The food being made here is a completely new thing for the store,” said Becky.

“It is a grab and go concept, all made in our kitchen here and prepacked ready for the customer’s convenience.

“We have added 800 lines within fresh food. A big part of that is Mayfield Village Butchers, that has been amazing. It has really taken off, so much so, that we are looking to expand that range. The quality is amazing, and the customers love it.

Major investment has been made in technology throughout the store, in co-operation with Henderson Tech – EDGEPos and Glory, RELEX ASR Solutions, all helping to control the entire range of grocery, fresh food, frozen and tobacco, as well as ESELs across the entire store.

“New to the shop has been the Glory cash management system and we have deployed self-service tills, which are servicing about 50% of our transactions,” added Becky.

“At the beginning, it was the younger customers who were using this, while older customers preferred to use the traditional tills, to use their cash and chat to the staff. But over time, we have gradually seen a shift in the older customers using the self-service tills that bit more.”

Continuing to add to their offerings, an EVRI parcel service was introduced at Abbots Cross SPAR in early August and has been an important addition for customers.

“Beforehand, we had a lot of customers asking for it, and to be able to use that service now is brilliant. Seeing a lot of people use it is just what we hoped for and we are trying to grow that,” said Becky.

“Now that the Post Office is more accessible, customer transactions have increased due to the increased prominence and enhanced service level. This is a really important part of the shop for us. Being at the back of the store originally, we were losing a lot of impulse and parcel customers. Given the shape of the shop, it was very remote and over-spaced, so moving it has helped improve the customer journey.”

With a name that many will surely recognise, Becky and Lucy are daughters of Mark McCammond, Retail Director at Henderson Group who has been only too willing to give his daughters sage advice upon taking on a store of their own.

“It has always been talked about, by Lucy and I as sisters, we wanted to do this together,” said Becky.

“Dad actually worked in the shop in 1984 when it was a Co-Op, so it just seems right – it’s a full circle moment and he is always there to give advice.

“With both Lucy and I being from the area and having worked in nearly all the local stores over the years, we have found that a lot of the customers know us and some of them came with us too. The local community is very important to us and it has all created such a good buzz within the complex we are in.”

This community ethos is a core part of the business for the McCammond sisters, who are committed to embedding themselves in the local community.

“As a family business, this is very important to us,” said Becky.

“Every week we collect for Newtownabbey Food Bank. The customers here are just brilliant, and they are so generous in donating. We work closely with Abbots Cross primary school too, sponsoring their sports days and running colouring competitions with them, and we are currently also raising money for Tiny Life and we have plans to do more.”

Four new jobs were created with the store opening, and they currently employ 15 staff across full-time and part-time, with recruitment a key part of the future, including for another team leader.

To date, the store has witnessed an increase in sales by 25-30% and are continuing to grow, adding to the excitement for the future for Becky and Lucy, who have their sights set on growing the business even further.

“There are good growth opportunities ahead, especially coming up to Christmas. We are very excited for Christmas, to get the seasonal stock in and we will really embrace the ‘12 Deals of Christmas’ SPAR campaign and hopefully have a successful first Christmas here.

“Watching the shop transform has been wonderful. The feedback from customers has been brilliant, there hasn’t been any negative feedback, which is all you can ask for.

“Working with my sister has also been so good, if we had not done it together it would have been really difficult. The team here have been great and we want to thank them. We appreciate Henderson Group giving us the opportunity of being SPAR Independent Retailers with a strong brand and wholesaler backing us. Retail is of course very challenging, but our staff and customers have made that easier with their support and we see a bright future.”

TO READ THE FULL ABBOTS CROSS SPAR FEATURE IN THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER, CLICK HERE