Surprise Shopping in BISF Convenience Store

Stroll along King’s Tamerton Road near St Budeaux, Plymouth and you will see the familiar sight of a street lined with BISF Houses in various shapes and forms. Wander further along the road and you would probably expect to see more typical family homes. Of course there would be the usual hustle and bustle of children playing in the street, and parents popping into the local shop to buy groceries or the odd bottle of milk. All in all nothing unusual really, well look a little closer at that local shop and you may well be more than a little surprised, as this store is a BISF House that has been converted into a fully functioning convenience store and off license known locally as “Our Shop”.

Venture inside and you will be greeted by the familiar sight of shelves filled with all the usual products including magazines, crisps, toilet rolls and tobacco. Chilled fridges and freezers occupy the small but perfectly formed shop floor, serving the local community with all manner of essentials.

More recently renamed as P&L Stores, the business has a healthy turnover of over £200,000 with the current owners having occupied the property since 2012 although the premises, which has a rear stockroom extension was well established before this date.

The ground floor sales area measures 6.35m depth x 6.35m and is fitted with a suspended ceiling, tiled floors and service counter with cigarette gantry, a hot pie cabinet, a point of sale scanning system and a fully equipped news and magazine display.
Other interior items include a glass top chest freezer, large gondola display, glass fronted double doored freezer, tiered dairy cabinet, air-conditioning unit and CCTV system. A seperate staff toilet area and a large storeroom of around 4.2m x 4.18m.

All in all it appears to have been quite a feat to fit so much into a relatively small space but considering the stores popularity and turnover, the concept has worked surprisingly well.
So, perhaps the next time someone asks you if you house is big inside, you can a least honestly say that you could indeed fit a shop inside your home!