A SHOP owner has said business needs to increase by around 40 per cent if the store in Romsey is to stay open.

Whitenap Stores, in Botley Road, was re-opened as a Spar shop in November but due to a lack of customers it may have to close in a year’s time.

Rishi Patel, who owns Spar stores in Bishop’s Waltham, Twyford, Eastleigh and a Premier in North Baddesley, opened the convenience shop in Whitenap as he saw a gap in the area.

Mr Patel, 32, said: “We thought it would be really good for the community as there’s not really a quality convenience store in the area. We’re independent, not corporate. We’ve got a vast variety of fresh produce and very competitive prices and we’re on people’s doorstep.

Daily Echo:

“But where the shop has been closed six to seven months beforehand it has killed off business. People compare it to the old shop which wasn’t very good and see it as another bog-standard convenience store but then they come in and realise there’s more variety.”

“We’ve set a target of a year and if we can’t make enough in that period we’ll have to close. At the moment with what the last three weeks of play have shown us I don’t think we’ll survive past a year.”

The shop owner, who lives in Portsmouth, said business needs to increase by about 40 per cent to keep the shop running past a year.

Currently, two staff members are working at the Romsey store but Mr Patel is due to post three more jobs in January.

Whitenap Stores, at 127 Botley Road, re-opened on November 12 with the post office re-opening on November 21.

Daily Echo:

The shop seemed a welcomed addition, with many applauding the return of a local convenience store on Facebook.

Ahead of the opening, Cllr Mark Cooper posted on Facebook: "Good news for the Tadburn and Five Elms area! Whitenap Stores (as was in the mists of time) reopens on Saturday November 21 as a Spar store."