A SHOP in the heart of Inkberrow has been named one of the very best retailers in the country.
The Forge Shop Simply Fresh, found on Inkberrow High Street, has been dubbed the Best Small Convenience Store in the country at the Convenience Retail Awards.
Judged in a range of areas including business success, product range and standards of staff service, the Forge Shop came out top in its category.
Store owner Chaz Chahal said: “It has been quite a journey and we’ve worked hard to get our vision up and running.
“We wanted to give the village the type of store it deserved and although it’s been a lot of work over the past two years, we’re really pleased with what we’ve achieved.”
The whole team of staff are Inkberrow people and 36 year-old Chas believes that the key to their success lies in the way they fit neatly in with village life.
“We’ve got a good mix of traditional village shop traits coupled with the mod-cons people want and expect today,” he said.
“The shop always has fresh food, it’s well stocked, cleaned and staffed and we use local suppliers whenever we can.
“It’s the people from the village who shop here, so it’s important for us to work with them and get to know them. Small touches make a big difference, like having a bench outside, making it a friendly place to meet up for a quick chat before you pick up a few ‘top-up’ grocery items.”
Awards such as the Convenience Retail Awards are a good opportunity for small shops to show their communities what they have to offer that bigger more generic retailers do not. The very best in convenience retailing came together from across the country in London in the hope to be crowned the kings of convenience at the Las Vegas themed evening run by trade titles Convenience Store and The Grocer.
Chaz added:”The fact that it’s a national award means that the competition was very tough – and to be honest, I didn’t expect to win but I am very proud that we did.”
Visit https://www.cr-awards.co.uk/ to find out more.
