Growing McColl's sees sales improve
Convenience store group McColl's, which has shops across the West Midlands, says that its sales were up 3.1 per cent for the year to November 29 driven by buying more sites.
In the final quarter of the year they were up by 2.7 per cent although like-for-like sales slipped 1.8 per cent.
Like-for-like sales in premium convenience and food and wine were slightly down by 0.6 per cent and in standard convenience and newsagents down by four per cent.
McColl's said its convenience store expansion strategy was delivered in line with plan for the year and it was on track to achieve its target of 1,000 by the end of 2016.
During the year 60 new convenience stores were bought and 45 food and wine conversions completed, taking the total number of convenience stores to 893.
The food to go offer has been enhanced in 148 stores and McColl's first Subway franchise is now open. Alcohol was also introduced to 100 newsagents.
Post office services are continuing to grow and there are now 520 post offices in stores.
Chief executive James Lancaster said: "I am delighted to report significant progress on our strategic initiatives for the financial year, continuing our expansion into convenience and capturing further market share. Whilst the sector continues to be challenging, total company like-for-like sales improved in the quarter, and have held up well in our developed convenience stores over the course of the year. We therefore expect results to be in line with the board's expectations for the year."