Kellett family’s emotional farewell from SPAR Walton Park

Long-standing SPAR independent store owners the Kellett family have bid an emotional farewell from convenience retail after more than 65 years in business in the Preston area.

Roy Kellett received a rousing ovation from fellow retailers at James Hall & Co’s SPAR Inspire retailer event when the sale of the Kellett family’s remaining store at Walton Park was announced.

Roy was presented with a commemorative plaque and thank you gift from chairman of James Hall & Co. Ian Hall, and deputy chairman and joint managing director, Andrew Hall.

SPAR Walton Park has been acquired by family-owned SPAR retail business Lawrence Hunt & Co based in Penwortham.

Roy’s route into the world of SPAR convenience stores was through the family business when he followed his parents Tony and Isabella into retail after leaving school in 1988.

Prior to that, Roy’s grandparents Vincent and Mary were the second retailers in the North of England to adopt the SPAR brand in the late 1950s through the association with James Hall & Co at a store in Brownedge Road in Lostock Hall.

Mary had some luck on the football pools – winning the equivalent of £360,000 in today’s money – which gave them the start they needed to be independent retailers, and the rest is history.

In a fitting turn of events, by selling the SPAR store at Walton Park to Lawrence Hunt & Co, Roy has sold up to the first SPAR independent retailer in the North of England with the Hunts’ SPAR heritage going back to 1957. 

With the acquisition of SPAR Walton Park, Lawrence Hunt & Co now operates 23 SPAR stores across the North West of England.

Roy, who has become something of a TikTok star with his videos promoting SPAR Walton Park, has decided it is the right time for a career break. He said: “I have so many memories and it has been a long and proud history with SPAR and James Hall & Co. 

“Our Brownedge Road store was in the family until 2016 when it was acquired by James Hall’s company stores division, later becoming the forecourt site there today.

“I started in the business earlier than 1988 as a paperboy and our Brownedge Road store used to be a recycling point for glass bottles which I also looked after.

“Although the role of a paperboy has died with the digital age, it is funny how things come around in retail with the new drink container deposit return scheme that is set to be introduced.

“My father had moved to Preston with my mother when they got married in 1965, and they had a store on the corner of Ruskin Street and Bence Road. They later moved back to Lostock Hall, buying the Brownedge Road site from my grandparents.

“I think the idea of becoming a muti-site retailer was something he got from fellow SPAR retailers on the Northern Guild, and he took on the Walton Park store on Millwood Road in 1991.”

Looking back at his time in retail, Roy added: “I will miss being a community retailer. I saw it as a way of life, not a job. We have seen a lot happen and change, and we have witnessed the community grow. Customers would come into the SPAR for a chat as much as buying what they needed, and we have always supported local schools, youth groups, churches and charities.

“My view on retail was that I always saw the children who came into our stores as our future customers. It is why I have been active on social media accounts with Facebook and TikTok.

“This is a career break for now as I am not at an age to retire. Who knows what the future holds for me. I could come back in at the sharp edge of retail down the line or perhaps utilise my skills in a wholesale environment… We will see.”

James Hall & Co is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.