A NEW, larger store for discount retailer B&M opens in Reading at 8am today (Saturday, August 26).
It has moved location in Brunel Retail Park, and is now next to Pets at Home and Halfords. It used to be home to a branch of Next.
The company said it decided to move due to customer demand, feedback suggested regular visitors wanted a larger space with more products.
The new location has 22,826 sq ft of sales space, selling everything from groceries, toiletries and health and beauty to toys, homewares, and DIY.
A new section is a 7,395 sq ft garden centre selling hundreds of plant varieties and gardening products.
The old store closed on Saturday, August 19, to give the team time to prepare for the move.
We were able to enjoy a sneak preview of the gleaming new store ahead of the 8am opening.
The team were hard at work putting the finishing touches to the aisles, ensuring every product had been carefully and thoughtfully placed on the shelves. A lot of care has gone into the placement of products, ensuring a colourful display.
When they said the store would be bigger, they meant it. While it is a logical layout, it is a big one too, and in some ways feels like walking round the IKEA showroom with lots of tempting displays at every turn.
And like IKEA there is flat packed furniture, but that’s only part of it.
Like most B&Ms, you enter to aisles packed high with all kinds of groceries, from kitchen staples to store cupboard faithfuls, pet food, sweets and a good alcohol range too. Something for everyone, with prices ranging from pocket money to big box bulk buy specials.
And then shoppers are taken on a journey through every room in the house. Toiletries, cosmetics, clothes – including Christmas PJ sets for families, technology items, white goods, stationery, cushions, candles, DIY goods, tools … you’d be hard pressed not to find what you need in store.
There are also special displays dedicated to – whisper it quietly now – Hallowe’en and Christmas items. It’s never too early to stock up for December 25…
Right at the end of the store is the new garden centre. Small and perfectly formed, it contains a mixture of plants, bedding, fencing and decorative features – everything that’s needed to transform that green space into an oasis.
Plants are looked after and well-watered, as the wet ground and buzzing bees testify to.
Trollies will no doubt be stacked up by this point, so it’s just as well the tills are waiting.
The store manager at B&M Brunel, said: “We wanted a bigger and better store for our customers, giving them even more big, branded products.”
“We hope customers are going to be delighted with their new store and garden centre, we’re really excited to get the doors open.”
Just don’t expect to pop in and out … it’s an Aladdin’s cave of bargains, and you’ll be wanting to take a second look at many of them.
