New independent retailer Asco Stores Ltd is opening its first store on December 5 in Warrington.
The doors will slide back on an 11,000sqft supermarket on the town’s Sankey Street, at a former Woolworths site.
The opening has created 65 jobs and is the first in a chain of 12 supermarkets scheduled to open in northern England by the summer of next year. Asco’s medium-term plan is to open 30 supermarkets and create 3,000 jobs by establishing its network in northern England.
According to Asco md Dave Laney, the group’s philosophy is based on engaging with customers and offering excellent value for money. Asco’s strapline is ‘The Real Alternative’ and it is making much of the fact that it will offer products from local suppliers and is keen to develop a strong relationship with local producers. The Warrington store will stock up to 20,000 predominantly food and grocery products and includes a delicatessen.
Laney said: “Before opening in Warrington, we carried out a substantial amount of research which indicated that people in the town wanted something different from their grocery and food shopping. Our customers will come from every walk of life, but those people who work in or visit town centres and like to shop little and often are likely to form the core of our business. We plan to offer customers an alternative when shopping for their daily essentials, which will give them a refreshing and pleasant change.”
To help launch the store, Asco was advised by Kevin Connors from NatWest, which provided banking facilities to the company.
Laney joined Asco eight months ago following a 30-year career with some of the largest names in the retail sector, including WH Smith and Mothercare.
Backed by private investors, Asco is confident of building a network of stores in the short to medium term.
Laney said: “It takes a considerable effort to set a business like this up from scratch, but now we are about to open in Warrington we can use this as a blueprint for future stores. We are aiming to open up to 30 stores across the North and North West within three years and I do not see any reason why we cannot achieve that. To help us do this, our culture and our working practices are easy to understand - we aim to keep things simple”
Asco expects to capitalise on retail properties in town-centre locations being available on good terms as a result of the recession - former Woolworths sites being a case in point. Laney said: “It gives a start-up business like Asco the chance to establish a foothold in this marketplace and come out the other side of this recession in a very strong position.”
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