St Breward Stores on Bodmin Moor due to close because of soaring costs
The village shop warns it can't keep up with supermarket competitors
A village shop and post office in Bodmin Moor is due to close because of soaring costs and challenges competing with supermarkets.
The St Breward Stores and Post Office have announced they'll be closing their shop in June due to the current situation, which has forced pressure on businesses across Cornwall.
Darren Wills, owner of the stores in St Breward, told us after over five years of running them, it's been a difficult decision to have to close. He said: "Energy costs, everything, for a little village shop it's just not sustainable anymore.
"Unfortunately we've made a second year loss"
"It's not a decision I've taken lightly, I've met with accountants, we've spoken about other options, whereas community shops are mostly volunteers, we are run as a business that we have to pay our staff every hour."
The shop, which sells essentials like milk, fruit and bread - have struggled to keep costs to product low and affordable for customers, while also gaining a profit.
Darren added: "We just can't afford to keep up with the supermarket chains, they can afford to sell milk for more than we can purchase it for.
"Just the profit on return from our suppliers just isn't there to keep it going, footfall has dropped off, it's a very sad decision it's just what we have to do."
According to recent figures, customers are now spending more on their supermarket shops than they were a year ago - due to rising costs putting up the price of goods.
New data reveals people are paying 17 point three percent more at supermarkets than a year ago - down slightly from last months figure of 17 point five percent.
"We just can't afford to keep up"
In a Facebook Post, the owners of St Breward Stores wrote:
"It is with great sadness that we have been forced to evaluate the viability of running St Breward Stores and as a result will be closing the shop at the end of June 2023...
"The shop has been at the heart of the community of this village for a long time. It has been open 12 hours a day, unlike many other village shops, and enabled everyone to utilise the full Post Office services during these hours too. It has also employed and provided jobs for many local people..."
The statement continued: "Without a shadow of a doubt, the past few years have dealt the shop a series of devastating blows. Since the pandemic, we have seen significant losses. The footfall into our shop has reduced dramatically, inflation has hit the business hard and supplier cost increases have risen astronomically, not to mention the sharp increase in utility bills.
"Alongside these issues alone, over the last year, our suppliers have continued to reduce their availability of stock in favour of other industries, dealing another crushing blow to the small retail sector."
St Breward Stores and Post Office are asking people in the village to continue to support them in the last two months as they remain open on reduced hours.
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