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Becoming part of a new community

Hear from Callum, Store Manager at our Ancoats store on what it takes to open a new store and helping the local community.

I was able to talk to local people about my aspirations for our store and how much we can contribute to local causes in the area.

Callum Sale | Store Manager

I’ve worked for Co-op for over five years now. Since becoming a Store Manager at a new store in Ancoats, a community in central Manchester, I’ve been through some really challenging and rewarding times.

Becoming part of the Ancoats’ story once again

As a store manager, it’s more than just a store opening, we aim to be a positive force in the community.

When Co-op first announced that we were opening in Ancoats, we faced some opposition from the local community as a big retailer coming into the area. I saw this as a great opportunity to show the Co-op difference by organising several events in the community with the support of our marketing teams before the official opening.

This opening was particularly special, as we’ve been part of the Ancoats’ story for over 100 years from opening our first store here in 1890! I attended monthly meetings with other business owners and built relationships that really helped our standing in the community. I was able to talk to local people about my aspirations for our store and how much we can contribute to local causes in the area. We also recruited a great team full of local residents who can proudly represent their community.

Adapting quickly to the pandemic

Our store opened on 13 March 2019, and we’d barely been open a week before the whole country was locked down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a huge hurdle to face and we quickly had to adapt to changes with social distancing and working during the pandemic.

Luckily we had a lot of support from Co-op during this time, and our store colleagues were able to work flexibly to support other stores in the area. This allowed the colleagues to feel valued and secure in their jobs.

And the community was great through this difficult time, really showing that we were now a valued part of our community, with the new store being referred to by some locals as the ‘lockdown shop’.

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