LUXURY spas can be found in or around most towns and cities these days. But luxury Spars? They are a rare treat.
One branch of the popular local shop in Pembrokeshire, Wales, has taken the mantle as the UK’s most upmarket – with shoppers snaffling up fantastic fresh food, kales smoothies and even a Sunday roast.
The new store immediately caught the eye of locals by offering an ice bath to chill drinks before purchase, vegan frappe’s alongside eggs and homemade bread from farmers in the community.
The shop in trendy Narberth – which has its own food festival and seems a logical choice for such culinary advances – has undergone a large refit. Gone is the traditional and tired green, red and white frontage. In its place is a swish black façade, a host of new fresh food and a focus on what customers really want.
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The Sunday roast has already got customers queuing on the street, peering through the lines of fresh bread and sliced lemons in Kilner jars before they can get their hands on the £6.50 bargain.
Pensioners snake into the shop chuffed to be able to pick up a UK staple at such a great cost. You’ll be hard-pressed to get much changer from a tenner for one anywhere else.
Reviews of the Spar read more like those of a restaurant than a local convenience store.
One satisfied customer wrote: “Just to say the Sunday lunch was absolutely delicious. Beautiful meat (beef) and really tasty. Great value for money. Will definitely be buying one again.”
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Another said: “Was very impressed with the food and atmosphere.”
The hot food, which also includes dishes such as chicken tikka and meatball and Emmental wraps, is sold under the Philpotts cafe banner. The drinks firm AF Blakemore bought the chain in 2019 and owns 260 Spars across the country, explaining the presence of Philpotts’ offerings in Narberth, as reported in the Daily Post.
But not everyone is happy with the changes, with one reviewer commenting on the high-prices. “Lovely food at the newly open spar in Narberth but the prices are outrageous”.
Another claimed it is now more expensive than Harrods. “It was pretty expensive before, but won’t go in there anymore, whey (sic) too expensive since reopened. It’s cheaper in Harrods in London,” they grumbled.
We assume they’re not talking about the bargain roast. Perhaps they’ve had one too many of the shops delicious vegan latte’s.
