JOHN AND MARIE VINE RUN NEWSWORLD IN CHURCH STRETTON

John and Marie Vine have risen to the challenges of the pandemic with creative flexibility, which has transformed life at their shop Newsworld in scenic Church Stretton, Shropshire.

As retailers for 15 years they are well known locally and felt their customers had given them great support when they combined two shops into one larger one handling 600 newspaper deliveries a day.

SUPPORT

“When the pandemic came along, we felt we should help and support those people who have been so good to us over the years,” says John, 52.

Watching the pandemic begin to take hold in Europe in January and February last year, they realised customers might have difficulty accessing essential supplies.

So they set up a delivery service to make certain no one would do without.

Newsworld-Sandford

Hardware stocks everything from nails and paint to fresh milk, which can be dispensed into bottles in the shop.

It also offers key cutting, television and satellite installation, and dry cleaning. Plus it sells gas, logs and coal. Having such a wide range of goods meant customers were pretty well assured of getting anything they wanted to help see them through the dark days of lockdown.

“We established links with the local baker, butcher and Co-op store, so if customers wanted something delivered and we didn’t have it, we knew where to go,” says John.

The couple’s son William, 25, works for the family business too, and his sister Emma, 23, also helps out.

One grateful customer said: “Nothing is too much trouble. During this pandemic, the store has been a bedrock of support and helpfulness for everyone.”