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Central England Co-operative Limited
Strong convenience store sales helped Central England Co-operative enjoy a positive performance over the 2017 Christmas and New Year period.
The Society saw like-for-like sales growth of 2.4% for the three weeks ending 6th January 2017, with sales in the core convenience store business increasing by an impressive 6.2 % compared to the same three weeks in 2016.
The strong trading achieved in the Society’s convenience stores outperformed sales in the overall convenience market (as reported by the Institute of Grocery Distribution) by 2.1%.
Figures also revealed that Christmas Eve generated the Society’s highest ever Sunday sales – over £3 million - and in the week leading up to Christmas sold 14,000 turkeys, up 2% on last year.
The Christmas period saw particularly strong performance across a range of products including sales of 250,000 tubs of chocolate, 150,000 packs of mince pies and 100,000 advent calendars.
Other high performing products included the ‘Irresistible’ premium range as well as floral gifts, with over £350,000 worth of flowers and plants sold in the run-up to the festive season.
Central England Co-operative members and customers were provided with a great range of quality festive food products and excellent availability levels, all supported by the fantastic commitment of colleagues throughout the Christmas and New Year trading period.
The Society also supported the communities in and around stores as part of its #beingcoopy campaign. This included over 60,000 items being donated by people into special Christmas Foodbanks, providing nearly 20,000 meals to those in need this winter.
Martyn Cheatle, Chief Executive at Central England Co-operative, said: “Everyone involved with Central England Co-operative is proud of our Christmas and New Year strong sales figures.
“These results have come about due to a combination of the hard work and dedication of all of colleagues, an excellent range of quality products and the expert planning that went into our strategy for the festive period.
“We are also delighted by the amazing response to our #beingcoopy campaign and are so proud to be able to make a difference in our communities.
“I would like to thank all colleagues, customers and members for their support during this very busy period.”
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