Page 25 - Demo

STORE PROFILE BRIGHT NEW DAY FOR REOPENED OTR GLANDORE STORE OTR stores are known for bringing vibrancy to communities and catering specifically for people’s essentials and desires, while remaining generous to local charities and community groups. Convenience World profiles the reopened OTR Glandore in Adelaide with its unique attributes that make it stand out from the crowd. By Emily Devon. O TR Glandore, in a southern suburb of Adelaide, was originally a ‘drive-thru’ store that shut up shop in October 2019 for demolition works to begin a year later. The six-month construction process led to the reopening of the 350sqm store in May this year. Its redevelopment is part of the OTR group’s investment program, says General Manager Operations Darryl Cotter, with more than 10 OTR stores being newly built or refurbished in the past 12 months and a further six to open in the coming months. OTR Area Manager Richard Blackwell says the reopening, which has brought the first Guzman Y Gomez (GYG) to Glandore along with a full range of Krispy Kreme doughnuts added to the mix, has been successful, with sales and customer numbers growing. “Regular guests of the original OTR have been very happy to have their local store and team members back,” he said. “There’s also been great feedback from new guests to the site who are excited to see the GYG and Krispy Kreme food offers. “Other feedback has related to the look and feel of the new store, where guests can step from the clean, modern aesthetic of OTR into the colourful world of authentic Mexican food at GYG. It certainly creates a fun atmosphere in the store.” OTR Glandore is open 24/7 and offers what is described as the ultimate in convenience retailing, including: the drive-thru GYG; the OTR group’s C Coffee, barista made; its freshly squeezed OhJ! orange juice; Moe’s New York-style hot dogs and shakes; a specially curated range of supermarket essentials; and a premium range of BP fuel. As well as the Krispy Kreme doughnuts range, OTR food brands EAT and CHILL offer freshly made sandwiches, salads, hot pastries and sweets. Catering for diversity Mr Blackwell says OTR Glandore’s location on a major arterial road, Anzac Highway, provides a diverse demographic mix. “There’s a lot of passing traffic, particularly on the outbound commute from the CBD towards Glenelg,” he said. “Recent years have seen an expansion of medium and high-density residential development in the city fringe, so we’re excited to offer diverse dining options to the growing local population.” Mr Blackwell added: “On a personal note, as an occasional cyclist, I think the cycle station with dedicated inflation and repair facility is a great resource for the weekend cycle crowd who come down Anzac Highway in search of the beach.” Reopening during a pandemic While the store reflects abundant positivity, modifications to reopening plans during the construction process were necessary to allow for the restrictions of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re fortunate to be supported by an amazing site support team, who were well versed in dealing with the day-to-day legislative changes by the time we opened,” Mr Blackwell said. However, opening day could not go ahead in the usual OTR fashion, due to the social distancing requirements. “The biggest impact on our opening was maintaining guest number limits and avoiding large queues and crowds,” Mr Blackwell said, “which sadly meant we couldn’t offer free burritos and doughnuts on opening day.” In addition to ensuring customer numbers are limited, he says OTR stores are also following strict three- hour cleaning cycles, which keep all potential contact areas “thoroughly sanitised within each three hours.” OTRGive program Mr Blackwell says OTR’s teams are always looking for new ways to give back to and support their surrounding communities, citing the group’s OTRGive enterprise. “OTRGive is a fantastic initiative that has distributed almost $290,000 to a range of deserving community organisations,” he said. “The great aspect of OTRGive is that each guest who downloads our app can choose where OTR makes a donation on their behalf. “I think it’s wonderful that so much money can be directed by our guests to very worthy causes, all at no cost to them.” It’s evident that a lot of work goes on to ensure that individual OTR stores can perform to the best of their abilities. Mr Blackwell concluded: “I believe the future success of this store is assured by the amazing team of people who serve our guests on a daily basis. Behind the scenes, the vision, planning and strategy from our leadership team enables us to build amazing stores with a diverse range of food offers to service our guests.” OTR Glandore is located at 130 Anzac Highway, Glandore, SA 5037. JUL/AUG, 2020 CONVENIENCE WORLD 23