THE Anglia Regional Co-operative Society has its roots buried deep in Peterborough.
Established in the city 132 years ago, the retailer’s impressive flagship Westgate department store, on the corner of Park Road and Westgate, occupies a massive 250,000 square feet and sells, well, just about everything.
And that, according to c
hief executive John Chillcott, is part of the problem for the society, which operates a diverse range of stores selling food to funeral services across East Anglia, but is facing some fierce competition on the high street.
Mr Chillcott, who was appointed last September, said: “Over the years, we have tended to stock products with little regard to whether anyone actually wants to buy them.
“We have been selling products without any idea of what the customer actually wants.
“That has got to stop. We have now embarked on a major research project to find out exactly what our customers want from us.”
The aim will be to pare down the stock to ensure that only sought after products are on the shelves. The move should have the twin effect of reducing costs and increasing profits.
In addition, the Westgate store is also undergoing a major refurbishment to improve the quality of its sales area.
But the overhaul for the society, which trades as Westgate Department Stores, AHF Home Furnishings and Rainbow Foodstores, does not stop there.
Mr Chillcott said he was also reviewing the location of all its stores to ensure they were in right location for its customers.
He said: “I am not going to be precious about any of our stores.”
Administration staff in Westgate are already being relocated to free up space in the Westgate store.
Some of that space will be used to increase the retail offering, but the rest could be rented out as office space.
The store sits in the area covered by the planned £450 million North Westgate development, and Mr Chillcott says he intends to talk to developers and city planners to see what options might be available for the Westgate site.
This might even mean selling the premises to buy a smaller store elsewhere in the city centre.
But Mr Chillcott is also concerned the retailer is not offering its members the benefits they might reasonably expect from a Co-op.
He said: “We have 200,000 members and almost as many again who are registered but not active.
The full article contains 410 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
