The team at Bert’s Barrow Farm Shop have extended their premises by over 75% due to an overwhelming demand from their customers.
Bert’s, based at Hillam near Selby took the steps after closing their successful Drive-Thru which was hugely popular during the peak of the Coronavirus outbreak and gave customers the option of completely contactless free shopping from the comfort and safety of their cars.
Once the restrictions for entering shops had been relaxed however, the team realised that their current shop would have to be modified to both cope with demand and the need for social distancing and so set about more than doubling it in size.
Owner Charlotte Wells-Thompson, who runs the Farm Shop along with husband Jason and a team of 10 staff from their family farm said: “The drive-thru was a runaway success and it was fantastic to be able to continue to support both the local community and the businesses whose products we stock through a really difficult time.
“We created the Drive-Thru literally overnight to enable us to keep trading and the extension of the farm shop has been no different. Once we were allowed to welcome customers back into the shop it was clear that some changes needed to be made to make it safe for both our staff and the public.
Our fantastic team have worked around the clock to create a bigger space, which in turn has enabled us to stock and support more local businesses as well.”
The shop expansion is not the only change that the Bert’s team have introduced. A Click and Collect service is now available enabling customers to order their groceries online and collect between Thursday and Saturday each week and their popular Pick Your Own strawberries are now also in full swing and proving to be very popular.
Charlotte continues: “Our PYO strawberries are a great outdoor activity for families and have been really popular over the last couple of weeks, whilst our new Click and Collect service has been really busy too as customers look at new ways of shopping. We’re passionate about supporting both the local community and local producers so it’s the perfect way to marry the two and we’re grateful for everyone’s continued support during these tricky times.”
The shop and PYO strawberries are open Thursday – Sunday from 10-4pm and Click and Collect orders can be placed through their website at www.bertsbarrow.co.uk