i-Save store, Haltwhistle nominated Trader of the Week

Andrew Cogan, of the i-Save store in Haltwhistle, has owned the shop for approximately six years.

i-Save stocks frozen food, groceries, confectionery, pharmaceuticals, DIY, and stationery products.

He started the business with his brother, Phil Cogan, who died suddenly in 2022. 

Andrew, who lives in Haltwhistle, has since hired two staff to support him in the shop.

i-Save, like others around the region, had to change how it operated to keep in line with Covid-19 regulations and as a result decided to start offering a delivery service to customers in the local area.

Inside the i-Save store (Image: Supplied)

"The business took hold in the Covid outbreak, we offered a delivery service to customers. The store was run by the two of us until [Phil's] death, then I decided to take the whole business on.

"We were the only shop in town that was offering a delivery service to customers. People could ring our store and we would deliver to them, and we didn't charge any extra. We set it up to help people in the town, we have a large portion of elderly customers. They couldn't get out for their shop and people were screaming out for delivery slots."

READ MORE: 'The phone lines would never stop ringing' - Haltwhistle businesses praise customers

Outside the i-Save store (Image: Supplied)

Speaking of being nominated Trader of the Week, Andrew said: "We're absolutely delighted. We really put ourselves out to help as many customers as we can that come in the store, a lot of the national stores don't care anymore. We always try to keep the prices below the national prices and we offer a really good service to customers with a huge range of stock.

"I think we carry around 8,000 different product lines. There's a huge variety of products at the shop. For a small independent store, we carry an awful lot of products." 

Andrew said the business has seen an increase in trade over the last year.

"Our business seems to be thriving, a lot of people come to our store than going to the bigger nationals."

i-Save has branched out into selling frozen food in the last six months. 

"We've got huge freezers on the shop floor. It's something new for us and that seems to be going down really well. We're expanding all the time in different avenues."