Co-op officially opens its new £700,000 store in Doncaster creating 14 new jobs

The new store is based on the site of the former The Acorn pub in Hatfield Lane, and offers food and essentials, with the ribbon cut on the store by children from nearby school Shaw Wood Academy.

The community food store offers shoppers an expansive range of products and features such as self-service checkouts, an extensive food to go section including hot food, Costa Coffee and Tango Ice Blast machines, a free water refill station, a customer car park and customer toilets with baby changing facilities.

The modern, spacious store also features special eco-friendly fridges and LED lighting, as well as a lifesaving defibrillator, free bicycle repair station, public noticeboard and outdoor seating for the Armthorpe community.

On the outside of the store there is also artwork specially created by children from Shaw Wood Academy, who joined the store team to officially cut the ribbon at the launch and have a first look at their handiwork.

A food bank collection point has also been installed to support Doncaster Food Bank as it continues to manage the increased demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

To mark the launch, manager Lyn Hunter made a special donation of food and essentials to the food bank.

She said the store team were looking forward to being part of the local community and to working with Doncaster Food Bank to support people struggling from the impact of the pandemic and the rising cost of living, while she also thanked Shaw Wood Academy for helping to cut the ribbon and for the children’s fantastic artwork.

She said: “It is great to finally open our doors to the local community as the team have been desperate to support our neighbours and ensure they can access food and essentials on their doorstep.

“All of us here at the new store are proud to be part of such a great community in Armthorpe so we are delighted to be able to support Doncaster Food Bank which is offering a lifeline to vulnerable residents and people struggling in these testing times.

“All the team were so happy to be joined on our big day by children from Shaw Wood Academy and I would like to thank the children for their brilliant artwork which we are so proud to be able to include on our store and see every day as we come to work.”

The artwork is entitled ‘What Armthorpe Means to Me’ and Headteacher Nicola Parker-Watts said they were thrilled to be involved: “Our children were delighted to be asked by Central England Co-op to not only help cut the ribbon on their brand new store, but also to provide a special piece of artwork to be displayed outside that can be seen by the whole community. We hope to further develop links within the community and work with other local businesses in the future.”

Class teacher Ann Sawyer added: “The children had a great time completing the artwork which saw them draw inspiration from the local area and its history. They have been really excited about seeing the finished design and to join in with the launch day by officially opening the store.”

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