Two long-standing SPAR independent family retailers have bid an emotional farewell from the convenience sector after a combined 102 years in business.
Roy Kellett and Graham and Kathleen Grant received a rousing ovation from delegates at James Hall & Co. Ltd’s SPAR Inspire retailer event when their departures were announced.
They were each given commemorative plaques and thank you gifts from Chairman of James Hall & Co. Ltd, Ian Hall, and Deputy Chairman and Joint Managing Director, Andrew Hall.
Roy’s route into the world of SPAR was through the family business when he followed his parents Tony and Isabella into convenience retail after leaving school in 1988.
His grandparents Vincent and Mary were the second retailers in the Northern Guild to adopt the SPAR brand in the late 1950s at a store in Brownedge Road in Lostock Hall. Mary had some luck on the football pools – winning the equivalent of £360,000 in today’s money – which gave them the start they needed to be independent retailers.
Roy, who has become something of a TikTok star with his videos promoting SPAR, has decided it is the right time for a career break. In a fitting turn of events, the Kellett family’s remaining SPAR store at Walton Park has been acquired by Lawrence Hunt & Co. Ltd, the first SPAR independent retailer in the Northern Guild with its SPAR heritage going back to 1957.
After almost 70 years of the Kellett family’s association with SPAR, Roy said: “I have so many memories and it has been a long and proud history with SPAR and James Hall & Co. Ltd. Our Brownedge Road store was in the family until 2016 when it was acquired by James Hall’s company stores division, later becoming the forecourt site there today.
“I started in the business earlier than 1988 as a paperboy and our Brownedge Road store used to be a recycling point for glass bottles which I also looked after. Although the role of a paperboy has died with the digital age, it is funny how things come around in retail with the new drink container deposit return scheme that is set to be introduced.
“My father had moved to Preston with my mother when they got married in 1965, and they had a store on the corner of Ruskin Street and Bence Road. They later moved back to Lostock Hall, buying the Brownedge Road site from my grandparents. I think the idea of becoming a muti-site retailer was something he got from fellow SPAR retailers on the Northern Guild, and he took on the Walton Park store on Millwood Road in 1991.”
Looking back at his time in retail, Roy added: “I will miss being a community retailer. I saw it as a way of life, not a job. We have seen a lot happen and change, and we have witnessed the community grow. Customers would come into the SPAR for a chat as much as buying what they needed, and we have always supported local schools, youth groups, churches and charities.
“My view on retail was that I always saw the children who came into our stores as our future customers. It is why I have been active on social media accounts with Facebook and TikTok.
“This is a career break for now as I am not at an age to retire. Who knows what the future holds for me. I could come back in at the sharp edge of retail down the line or perhaps utilise my skills in a wholesale environment… We will see.”
Graham’s journey to becoming a SPAR retailer was more unconventional. After a desire for a new direction in his career, he switched from his role as a bus driver, taking on a vacant SPAR store in Winlaton with his wife Kathleen in 1990.
SPAR Winlaton has become part of the James Hall & Co. Ltd G&E Murgatroyd company-stores division and Graham and Kathleen have taken the decision to retire.
Casting his mind back to when he became a SPAR retailer, Graham said: “I left my dad’s business and wanted to do something else. I became a bus driver to earn some cash and one day I got off my bus and I just needed a change and something more permanent.
“I went into my local SPAR store owned by Ronny Whitfield and his wife Linda who had been with SPAR a long time. I told them my situation and it was Ronny who suggested becoming a SPAR retailer. I did not have the finance at the time, but Ronny told me the Halls were looking for a retailer to go into a SPAR store in Winlaton.
“The next thing I know I am at the old James Hall depot on Blackpool Road in Preston with Dennis James, Russell Owen, and Andrew Hall and we came up with a deal for myself and my wife Kathleen to get us going. Within 12 weeks I had the keys in my hand and that was it.”
Reflecting on a career in retail with SPAR, Graham adds: “It was absolutely terrifying at first, but it went from strength to strength, and we soon settled into the village. Like any retailer we have had our highs and our lows – mainly highs – and I have been all over the world with SPAR.
“We have also had absolutely fantastic support from the Hall family over the years and it was lovely to have the opportunity to thank Ian and Andrew in person for everything they have done for us. It has been emotional, but just a brilliant time.
“I really wish the fantastic store team at Winlaton all the best and the transition of the SPAR business into G&E has been superb. We took on a Post Office 13 years ago, and fortunately because of G&E’s relationship as a trusted partner with the Post Office, that side of the business was sorted in just three weeks. It has been tremendous.”
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
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