‘We are fully stocked’ - Hebburn entrepreneur officially opens his newest shop in Jarrow
A South Tyneside businessman has celebrated the opening of his latest community shop.
A new community store in South Tyneside has officially opened with a bang, the best wishes of the community – and a rush of sales.
Owner Yogendran Mutthulingam, 41, was on hand to see the ribbon cut and his first customers pass through the door of his Premier outlet in Leicester Way, Fellgate, Jarrow.
The entrepreneur has spent months – and around £150,000 – preparing and applying the finishing touches to the 964sq ft premises.
As well as fully stocked shelves, it boasts a £16,000 ‘beer cave’ – a walk-in refrigeration unit where booze is chilled – bill paying facilities and a parcel drop service.
And the married dad-of-two, who already operates a Best-one store in Cambridge Avenue, Hebburn, and a second shop near Jarrow Metro station, has also applied for it to become a Post Office.
‘We are fully stocked’
Yogendran, who lives in Hebburn and is locally known as ‘Joe’, said: “It’s great to have officially opened this new shop – we are fully stocked.
“Everyone who is here is happy with the store. The people in this area wanted a Premier and I’m pleased to be open.
“They are lovely people and I’m very happy to be able to give them the type of shop they wanted. It’s in the right place and is the right shop.
“We will be open from 8am to 9pm each day, and I think those hours are good, we want to get on well with our neighbours.
“There are lots of facilities here for people and we have also applied to operate as a Post Office. I’m very much looking forward to the future.
“I’m working most of the time at this store, I want to be here to help out at the moment.”
‘What we needed’
Labour ward councillor Geraldine Kilgour, who was on hand to cut the ribbon, said Yogendran had delivered on his promise to open a shop aimed at benefiting the whole community.
She added: “We flouted the idea of what we needed in this area and Yogendran was the right match straightaway.
“He is such a nice man, and the shop is everything that we need. He is very welcoming.
“He also works very well with the other shops around here and he does not want to directly compete, he wants to work alongside them.
“It’s very nice to see the store open, the community has been very responsive.”
‘Looking very good’
John Carter, retail development manager with Booker, which owns the Premier brand, also praised Yogendran for his redevelopment of the premises, a former mini-market.
He said: “We gave Yogendran some ideas about how the shop should look and what stock there should be.
“We don’t have a crystal ball and so can’t know exactly what items will be popular, you don’t know until you get going.
“The beer cave is a very nice addition and keeps alcohol behind a closed door.
“There are one or two very final touches still to do but it’s all looking very good so far.
Yogendran hopes to employ a minimum of two full-time staff and three part-time workers.