In 2013, One Stop started working with their youngest Franchisee Aleem Choudry who was just 19 years old! The Prestatyn One Stop Franchise was a cold start for Aleem and his family who were part of the business’s initial five-store pilot. With Aleem being only 19 and having little experience in convenience retail, One Stop provided him with an opportunity to work in a local company store prior to joining to ensure it definitely was something he was passionate about taking on.
Aleem has built a very successful business partnership with One Stop seeing a significant sales uplift across the first year, followed by a 23% growth in year two serving circa 3,000 transactions per week. Inspired by the success of the first two years, Aleem further invested in his One Stop store expanding the shop floor to enable him to extend the frozen and off license range as well as household, biscuits and beverages. The space created by the extension has opened up the store and improve the shopping experience for customers.
Aleem said, ‘One Stop helped me from the very beginning to make sure convenience retailing was even something I wanted to get involved in. I run my store exactly to their Franchise model and it has been such a success and so easy to manage. I am really proud of how well the store is trading, so much so I wanted to invest more into it to give my customers more choice and space to shop within. One Stop have been a great partner helping me grow the business over the years, and I look forward to more years to come.’
We visited Aleem Choudry again in February 2017 and he shared his thoughts on the partnership since One Stop has further invested in their range and promotions.
‘Customers are loving the new range. Frozen produce has increased triple the amount and we’re also seeing an increase in packet and canned. This is due to the brand name and refit of the store. It allows the customer to do a larger shop.
One Stop’s promotions are highly competitive, meaning increased sales and drawing in additional customers who wouldn’t usually shop in a convenience store for lunch.
‘The promotions compete with supermarkets and we see a good profit from them. They run for five weeks and its usually main brand such as Coke, Pepsi etc. Our meal deals also make a big difference, as it brings in shoppers around lunchtime, as we offer a wide range of products that people love. We sell a lot of sandwiches – around 95% are from the meal deal.
Even though there’s more products to manage, it’s even easier with the technology included with the One Stop refit.
‘We use a computer-generated system to complete our orders. The till is so easy to use and directly links back to head office. If one item is sold, it will automate another order to make sure there’s enough stock, so it’s a great system.
‘Since our refit, we have a completely full shop and always have a promotion in each section, so there’s a lot of choice. Our turnover increased within six months and we’re into our third year now and still growing. We’ve made a healthy profit and the margin is increasing as well.‘
