Amit Patel, who had been running Duchy Stores for 35 years, decided to join the One Stop franchise. The Salford retailer, who took over the store from his parents, was encouraged by his brother Priyesh Vekaria, who operates another One Stop store just over a mile away in the same area. The switch from Go Local Extra to One Stop happened in July, following a trial period that began in April.
Family ties shaped the decision
While some retailers might view running competing stores in such close proximity as a risk, Amit said his brother’s location serves a completely different customer base. “We’re a little diamond in the rough in a council estate and we’ve got our own pitch,” he said. “We don’t get the same passing trade as Priyesh, but since we made the changeover we’re now on Uber, Deliveroo and Just Eat, so we’re getting a broader customer reach.”
Priyesh had been pushing for the switch for some time. Amit admitted his brother’s persistence bordered on nagging, but he acknowledged the value of having someone fill the gap left by his late father. “I basically needed somebody to say what my dad would’ve said,” he said. “Initially, my team weren’t ready for the One Stop model, but Priyesh only wanted the best for me as a person and the business.”
The two brothers walked through the model together, with Priyesh explaining the processes involved in the transition. “I knew it was sound advice coming from a good place,” Amit said. He dismissed concerns about the stores cannibalizing each other’s sales, insisting their different locations and customer bases made such overlap unlikely.
A gradual shift after years of plateau
His store had cycled through several wholesale arrangements before landing on One Stop. The business started with Go Local, then fought to become a Go Local Extra store to get more support. Sales had flattened despite the change. “We’d started to see sales—not tumble—but they weren’t increasing,” Amit said. “We’d kind of peaked.”
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Feedback from his previous wholesale provider offered little guidance. “I was nominated for two national awards but the only feedback I got from Parfetts, as I didn’t win, was to keep doing what I was doing,” he said. “That’s not advice. That’s not support as such. I know we’ve been in the trade for 35 years—so automatically people think we should know what we’re doing, but it doesn’t work that way. Every day’s a school day. You pick up stuff every single day.”
The timing aligned with One Stop reducing its prices, giving him the push he needed. He was already considering the move but wanted to give everyone a fair chance before committing.
Winning over skeptical customers
Transitioning the store itself proved straightforward. Getting the tills installed in April allowed the team to begin adapting their systems. The main switchover happened on July 17, followed by a street party in August to mark the change.
The harder sell was convincing regulars. Shoppers on the estate had grown accustomed to pricemarked packs and worried prices would climb. “They were very unsure at first, very sceptical,” Amit said. The outlet’s size worked in their favor, with One Stop’s yellow promotional tickets appearing throughout the aisles, roughly 40 to 50 per section. Customers began noticing the deals as they browsed.
One unexpected benefit was the automated pricing system. “As the prices went up, our system would automatically prompt us to change them,” he explained. The store no longer needed staff manually updating shelf labels.
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Some shoppers initially thought they needed to use Clubcards to access the yellow ticket prices. They quickly learned the discounts applied to everyone.
Learning fresh lessons
One Stop assigns a business development manager to each store, and Amit said the support has been thorough. “They’ve already looked at your store’s data before they come in,” he said. “They know our wastage levels. There’s already support before they even stepped into the project.”
Early conversations highlighted gaps in how the store handled fresh produce. Managers couldn’t understand why the team wasn’t reordering more fruit and vegetables. The issue stemmed from throwing too much away each week. The advice was straightforward: stop being afraid of wastage and keep putting product in front of customers. “You’re only going to learn through what you sell,” he recalled being told. “You need to keep putting it in the customers’ faces so they learn. Maybe they don’t want it today, but they’ll want it next week.”
The store is still adjusting to the model, but he expects the changes will benefit the business long-term. He also hopes the transition will give him and his family more breathing room. “We can take a step back slightly and have a bit more family time,” Amit said. “It’s been a lengthy process, and we’re in the middle of it, but we’re getting used to it.”
