Kings Heath food store gets fresh new look with £117k makeover after proving a lifeline to community during pandemic

Posted by james brindle | Published: 03/05/2021

A community food store in Birmingham where colleagues have been going above and beyond to support locals during these uncertain times has been given a fresh new look following an investment of over £117,000.

The Central England Co-op in Vicarage Road, Kings Heath has received a raft of updates to give it a fresher, lighter feel and to include a number of new ranges and features to boost its offering to the local community.

This follows the store’s colleagues working around the clock to ensure vulnerable people across the community have continued to have access to vital food and essentials through the Coronavirus pandemic.

The community food store has been undergoing a makeover in recent weeks with changes including:            

• An updated product range to better reflect customers’ requirements including an improved food to go section
• New features such as a brand-new Costa Coffee machine and a Tango Ice Blast Machine
• New internal signage and decoration

Store Manager Larry Riopedre said: “We are really delighted to have had this investment which has really transformed the store. It now looks really modern and fresh, and we are excited about the new products and features we have introduced.

“Our customers have given some great feedback already about the changes and have really been on the journey with us as we have remained open throughout the works and I would like to thank them for their patience and hope they agree with us it has been worth it.”

The Vicarage Road Food Store is open every day Monday to Sunday 7am-9pm.

The store has a wide range of products from everyday necessities to something a little more special and also offers a lifesaving defibrillator, cash machine, Collect Plus/Paypoint, Lottery, an instore bakery and customer car park.

Notes to editors

About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral and property investment.

Owned by hundreds of thousands of members, its over 7,800 colleagues serve customers across 400 plus trading sites in 16 counties in the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Its purpose is to inspire communities to create a sustainable Society for all.

It actively campaigns for the Government to increase sentencing for violent attacks on retail workers and works with FareShare Midlands and hundreds of food banks, generating enough food donations to create over 2.1 million meals for people in need.

The Society embraces inclusivity and equality and is a signed-up member to the Business in the Community (BITC) Race at Work Charter, while it is also fully committed to addressing the impact of climate change and is on track to be Carbon Neutral by 2030. 

It invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities through its Community Dividend Fund scheme which has seen over £175,000 shared out between 116 good causes over the past 12 months.

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

Phone - 01543 421390

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop