A Lincolnshire Spar retailer is already seeing sales at his new forecourt store rocket, thanks to its combination of cutting-edge services and a focus on family history and the local community.

Phil Hickson opened a 2,500sq ft forecourt store and supermarket site in Birchwood on August 29, adding to his existing portfolio of two shops in the area.

When the nearby Birchwood garage closed, resulting in 14 redundancies, Phil and his family decided it was time to fill the void – and the result is the brand new, purpose built forecourt store.

The store – which will be managed by the couple’s son-in-law, James, demonstrating the true family nature of the business – has also created a 20 new jobs for people in the local community.

Open from 6am until 11pm every day, it offers a range of hot and cold food, fresh food and food to go, coffee groceries and newspapers.

The store also makes use of the Hickson family’s tradition as butchers, as the family’s range of high-quality locally sourced meat as well as their speciality handmade sausages will also be on sale at the store. This provision of truly local products sets the store apart from their competitors. The premises is also licensed – a first for the site – so alcohol will be on sale too.

Sales are already exceeding expectations, assisted by car parking for 15 and fuel volume is anticipated at more than 4.5mlpa.

“We’ve been working on this store for two years before it opened, and it has been a huge part of our lives,” said Phil. “The store stands on the site of the former Costcutter, but we felt it was really important to retain the petrol station part of the business since the closure of Birchwood garage.”