European Grocery Franchise Reports Sales Hit All Time High

Thomas Green’s British grocery franchise is reaching further into the heart of Europe with a new outlet opening in Strasbourg on Saturday 17th November, less than six months after the Paris shop took the capital by storm.

With shops in Paris and Lille, now well established, the love affair with British foods in France continues.  Like its French fellows, this new store will have around 1000 leading brands available right at the heart of the City and the Council of Europe.

British residents, living and working in the Strasbourg area number some 3000 and news of the availability of sorely missed grocery products will soon have spread amongst the close knit community of expats, as well as the French.

Strasbourg, the capital and principal city of the Alsace region is home to several European institutions and like The Hague, in the Netherlands, where the first Thomas Green’s shop was launched 3 years ago, has a significant international population.

Heading up the Thomas Green’s franchise in this all important European city is Hatem Gheribi.  Hatem is French by birth but lived in Tunisia for 15 years. He has also worked in the retail sector in both France and the UK.

He married his wife, Catherine, in 2001 and they moved to Strasbourg a year later when Catherine was offered a job as an English speaking secretary at the Council of Europe.  Hatem saw an opportunity to start his own business in Strasbourg and a Thomas Green’s franchise allowed him to open a shop with the full support of a UK team. 

The premises, located at 48 Rue Boecklin, Robertseau, close to the COE buildings, is being opened by Terry Davis the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, who is attending in a personal capacity. An official from the Tunisian Consulate will also be attending.

As the famous Christmas Market stalls begin trading, the demand for British speciality foods will be keen.  In response to early demand Thomas Green’s will stock an array of favourite brand Christmas cakes, traditional puddings and mincemeat, festive confectionery and Cadbury’s selection boxes. In addition, Advent calendars, Christmas crackers, stockings, tree decorations, cards and wrapping paper will all be available in the run up to the festive season.

Hatem says: “A lot of British families want to give their children the same treats they had when they were little and I have received number of requests from the English speaking community already. Custard creams, sweets such as Refreshers, British sausages, Cheddar cheese and Christmas crackers will soon be available to everyone in Strasbourg.”

In addition there will be British tea time treats, marmalades and jams, bacon, Weight Watchers products, Walker’s crisps, breads and snacks and some local fresh produce. Thomas Green's in Strasbourg will soon be offering an online ordering service with an unbeatable one-price delivery service which has already proved very successful in Lille and Paris. 

Philip Evans Managing Director, Thomas Green’s says: “As an important international centre Strasbourg is a natural location for us after the success of shops in Paris and The Hague.  We have found that well over 50% of our customers in France are French and 50% in Holland are Dutch - so we don’t just cater for Brits broad – we have a much wider reach into the local population which is something we intend to build on.”

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About Thomas Green's:

Founded in 2004, Thomas Green Limited works in partnership with Nisa-Today's and its export partner Nisa International.

Nisa-Today's is the UK's largest distribution and services organization for independent retail and wholesale companies. The buying group comprises 600 Nisa retail members operating over 5,000 stores and 350 Today's wholesale companies with 400 depots, making it possibly Europe's biggest independent buying group. Nisa-Today's is a £1bn distribution company with a £5.1bn wholesale buying group.

Nisa International is the UK's premier wholesale exporter of grocery products to over 90 countries worldwide and a 2004 winner of the Queen's Awards for Enterprise in International Trade.

With access to Nisa-Today's product range and Nisa International's global distribution network, Thomas Green's is able to supply its overseas shops with over 12,000 ambient, chilled and frozen food products; the lines typically sold in all major UK supermarkets, as well as premium food lines. In addition, Thomas Green's supplies many non food items including magazines, books, stationery and seasonal products to its franchisees.

Thomas Green's helps franchisees develop their stores, with full retail branding, product selection, bespoke epos systems, optimal store layout plans and marketing advice. A fully transactional website is available to franchise stores and can be used to develop a local delivery service.

Contact information:

Philip Evans, Managing Director +44 (0)1765 609337

enquiries@thomasgreen.com or www.thomasgreen.com