Castletown shop re-opens as a SPAR after temporary closure for a refit
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A CASTLETOWN shop, which was temporarily closed for a refit, has re-opened as part of a new retail group.
The SPAR store on Main Street was previously run as a Morrisons Daily outlet but was shut in early May after the lease of the premises came to an end.
The property was closed to allow equipment to be removed and replaced when SPAR took over the convenience store which also incorporates a post office. It re-opened on Wednesday.
Liz Geddes, the secretary of the Castletown and District Community Council, was pleased to see the shop re-open after five weeks.
She said: "I am glad to see it back open. I think Morrisons may have shut the shop too early as it seems to have been sitting for a couple of weeks without any work being done. I am not sure why they shut it so early. Perhaps they could have kept it open for a bit longer."
But Mrs Geddes is happy the store is back in operation and said the initial reaction is that it is "looking pretty good."
Last year, Morrisons took over more than 1100 McColls stores and 16,000 staff throughout the UK, including the shops in Main Street, Castletown; Sinclair Street, Halkirk; Provost Sinclair Road, Thurso; and Mount Pleasant, also Thurso.
At the time, the company described the deal as "a good outcome" and said it offered "stability and continuity for the business."
SPAR is a Dutch multinational retail chain that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932 and has over 13,000 stores in more than 40 countries. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam.
The United Kingdom became a member of SPAR in 1956 when the company granted a group of independent wholesalers the licence. There are five regional partners in the UK with strategically placed distribution centres in each region.
