Iceland throws open its doors at Devizes
9:05am Thursday 15th October 2009 in News By Jill Crooks
New Iceland manager Kevin Randall gets ready to open
The former Woolworths store in The Brittox will re-open today as an Iceland frozen food store.
It will be a return to Devizes for Iceland because for 28 years it had a store in Monday Market Street in the premises now occupied by the Marks & Spencer Simply Food store.
The Devizes store is one of 51 former Woolworths stores that Iceland has bought. The deal to buy the Devizes store was announced three days after Woolworths shut in January.
Iceland store manager Kevin Randall said: “It’s really exciting and it’s great that Iceland is back in Devizes. There is a need for us in the town. We will cater for a different type of customer. Obviously I like to think our frozen food range will be better than the opposition and we want to deliver excellent customer service.”
Mr Randall, of Salisbury, has been a manager with Iceland for seven months and previously worked at stores in the Southampton area.
He said: “I’ve been here for the last six days and people have been continually looking in and asking when we are opening. There’s a lot of interest locally in the store not only from shoppers but also other retail managers. It’s really sad that Woolworths closed but it’s great that Iceland has been able to regenerate the town by opening a store and creating jobs.”
The store will employ 26 full and part time staff, most of whom live in Devizes.
However none previously worked for Woolworths or the previous Iceland store in Devizes.
The store will open today at 9am with special guests the town mayor John Leighton and town crier Marcus Hopgood in attendance.
A children’s entertainer will also be in store.
