The Safeway supermarket opened on September 20th, 1994. It stands on the site of the Smithfield at what was once the town’s railway station. Undoubtedly the store draws a huge amount of custom into the town, but it’s critics have cited the demise of small businesses and market stalls since it’s arrival.

Safeway is the only large supermarket in the locality. Some years earlier the small local Co-op in the town centre closed and the larger Fine Fare Supermarket that had opened on the edge of the centre with easy access car parking was the largest in town. Fine Fare became Somerfield. The store was then sold on to Lidl but a dispute over the demolition of the listed building delayed opening. An Iceland store opened on Cheshire Street and a Netto store was built and opened at the other end of the town.

The store now employs 12 fulltime staff and 186 part time staff including the night crew. Safeway has a customer base of approximately 12,000. It is manned 24 hours a day but opening hours vary according to the days of the week. A year after opening, the adjacent Raven Hotel was pulled down and the petrol station was added. The store is a Training Store for Safeway Managers which means each one brings new ideas but they tend to move on. This leaves the continued operation of the store in local hands.

The store is a small community within the local community. The majority of the workforce live locally. The store operates like a village store. Customers and till staff become familiar with each other and in some cases are already related or connected in some way. Staff and customers acknowledge each other as they go about the town. In line with new policy the store had a recent refurbishment to present the products in a way that mirrors a market place. Each section is now managed by knowledgeable staff able to advise customers about their products. The Company policy of presenting business as entertainment means that staff are involved in a number of fun activities during the year. Each week the store sends out 12,500 leaflets advertising the new bargains. These are delivered round the town and into Hodnet, Loggerheads and Audlem by their own distribution team. This includes a milkman who delivers out to local farms. The leafleting reaffirms contact with the customer base. A regular stream of Customers from out of the locality also come into the market on Wednesday, buy in the town and do the weekly shop in the store.

Apart from the huge range of goods the store supplies, the quality and volume of which has increased since the recent refurbishment, the store provides much needed employment opportunities in the town. Emma Hughes lives in Hinstock and works at the store to help pay her way through college. She hopes to be a computer software analyst. Mark Cornwell is also a student working at the store to help pay his way through Leeds University. He is reading media studies. His passion is his guitar and he dreams of being a rock star.