Taking premium convenience beyond Lincoln: Lewis & Cooper looks like a chocolate box grocery store straight out of the good old days. But it's also bang up to date—it roasts its own coffee, offers international produce alongside local food, and takes orders online

Grocer, July 19, 2008 by Beth Phillips

Number of shops: 2

Date established: 1899

Number of lines: 32,000

Turnover: 3m [pounds sterling]

Lewis & Cooper first opened its doors when Queen Victoria was still on the throne. But the Tardis-like store, which is situated on the high street in the bustling North Yorkshire market town of Northallerton, has kept up with the times by moving online with its best-selling products.

It may look unassuming from the outside, but the 6,000 sq ft gourmet food store feels cavernous inside, with an extensive delicatessen and grocery offer on the ground floor and gifts, cookware and a tea room on the floors above.

Lewis & Cooper prides itself on offering products that would not be stocked by the multiples, so lines such as Chatka crab, Russian caviar and quails eggs sit alongside local hams, handmade plum puddings, bottled fruits and local honey.

"We had one lady in the other day looking for Australian products," says store manager Angela Shuker. "We took her round the store and found her a basket of products including honey and liquorice."

Shuker estimates some 40% of Lewis & Cooper's regular shoppers travel up to 50 miles to the store, with customers from Leeds and Durham returning every month to stock up on supplies. Popular lines include onion marmalade, Lewis & Cooper biscuits and fruitcakes.

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The retailer has recently added bestselling items to its website, which has been running for a number of years but until recently only sold hampers. In the past couple of months, however, it has increased the range to include lines such as beer, chocolate, chutneys, oils and pates.

"We may be an old company but we realise we have to move forward," says operations director and general manager Victoria Howard. "Customers would often ring up after looking on the website to see what else they could get, so it made sense to extend the offer."

The retailer is also considering opening more stores. It has been testing a smaller pilot store 12 miles from its flagship store in Yarm, which is "doing well", according to Shuker. If it proves successful, the format could be rolled out to further locations.

Lewis & Cooper is also keen to extend its processing and packaging facilities. It opened a processing plant 15 years ago to make its award-winning plum puddings, which are sold in its stores and through wholesale to delis, specialist food stores, farm shops and restaurants, as well as exported to France and Austria. It also produces fruitcakes, packs its own meats and roasts its own coffee.

But although the store is moving with the times, it still has a "good old days" feel. All 85 staff offer a personal shopping service, meeting and greeting customers and helping them find products, and its recently retired managing director Tony Howard, Victoria's father, is affectionately known as Mr Howard by staff and customers alike.

"The biggest change I have noticed is that customers don't spend as much time shopping as they used to," says Shuker, who joined Lewis & Cooper 18 years ago.

Rules and regulations have also played a part, she admits. "We used to have ham hanging from spikes and cheese on the shelves, but now everything has to be refrigerated," she says. "But the store hasn't lost its charm."

Store manager Angela Shuker

LEWIS & COOPER

Shuker is an "old-timer" at Lewis & Cooper, having joined the company as a 21-year-old working on the store's deft counter. "The dell counter had an old-fashioned bacon slicer that I used every day," she says. "We aren't allowed to use it anymore, but it's still there-just like me!" She has since worked across all departments within the store, including accounts where she worked for six years. In May lest year she was made store manager following the retirement of managing director Tony Howard.