A new shop which aims to sell everything from store cupboard essentials to lottery tickets has opened in Cromer.
Cromer Stores located on corner of Mount Street and Cambridge Street opened for business on November 2.
The convenience store is the first time business of Mervin Arulanantham.
Mr Arulanantham, who lives in the town, decided to open the business after seeing a gap in the local market for a store offering extended hours beyond 5pm.
The 34-year-old said: “I saw that all the shops [in the town] shut early. They all shut at 5pm so I thought I’d better start a business which opens longer.”
Mr Arulanantham said after first seeing the premises was available in January, the shop had taken a while to come together because of various set backs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He said: “It’s taken a long time. I was trying to get the premises before the pandemic started in January but it took a long time because the estate agent closed and they couldn’t process things quickly enough.
“Then I couldn’t find the workers to build the shop.”
He said the shop had needed refurbishing before he was able to open: “When I got the premises it was just two rooms so I had to do a lot of work to it. I put the shelves in myself.”
He said he hoped the convenience his shop offered would appeal to people, especially during the pandemic.
“People still need the essential things, they don’t want to go far and they don’t want to have to queue for a long time in the supermarket, they can come here. We have a bit of everything,” he said.
Mr Arulanantham said customers had been very welcoming during his first week of trade.
He said: “People are very friendly and very nice. People have been positive and given me good feedback.
“I’m trying to get the papers in and the lottery tickets and trying to offer everything people need. So if people come into the shop I have everything for them,” he said.
Cromer Stores is open seven days a week 6.30am-10.30pm.
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