My local Iceland store in Crawley has had a £240k makeover - and it has tempted me to do my big shop there

I live a ten-minute walk from the store, so I use it a lot for groceries and when I need snacks.

I have never really used it for the ‘big shop’, but the refurbishment may make me grab a trolley to get more than I usually do.

When it was announced it was closing for a week for the refurbishment, an Iceland spokesperson said: “Customers can expect a revamped layout, improved product ranges across fresh, chilled, grocery and frozen plus an enhanced shopping experience. We've invested £240k in the refurbishment to bring a brighter, more modern store to the area and we’re confident shoppers will love the changes.”

And you know what? I did love it.

The previous look was tired and dated but the main issue with the previous store was the queuing.

I caught up with Becky Copper, Area Manager for Iceland & Food Warehouse across the south coast, just before the revamped store reopened for customers at 8am on Thursday, February 20.

She told me: “We haven't refurbished this store in quite some time, over 20 years. We've had mini-relays, but not to the substantial amount that we've had most recently. It's a very busy store, which the locals use for convenience as well as their large weekly shop. It was very tired looking and it needed to be brought up into new Iceland and the new branding. We've got all the new branding, the marketing, the new shelves. Part of the problem that we have here, where it's such a busy store and we've got a small square footage, it over-trades for the space that it is. So the challenge was really for us to get maximum range that we could in for our customers, what they want to buy, and available on the shelf all day. So that is a challenge with the square footage that we have.”

And the new store is much more aesthetically pleasing. “It's very bright and it feels bigger,” said Becky. “It gives us more capacity to hold more onto the shelves. And with the over-stocks there, we've got it available should it become unavailable on the shelf.

“The main benefit for the customers, they'll see and feel a difference in the store and hopefully more shoppable. As customers came up to the checkout, it was very congested. So we've had to be very careful with our secondary locations for our sales opportunities. And we've kept it clear so there's not that bottleneck that comes through from the aisles to the checkout to make it easily accessible for our customers.”

And that is the biggest difference - the checkouts. Previously there were five tills - with only three being utilised. It’s been reduced to just three now and where the other two were, the shopping area has been extended and it is where the confectionery and alcohol is now kept.

And one of the tills is now slightly wider so the whole experience of popping in and buying something should be much easier.

So from first impressions, it’s bigger, brighter and makes the whole shopping experience much better.

Now, where’s that trolley so I can do my big shop here…