Loyal customer Mary still makes her daily trip to her local Central England Co-operative store in Leicester - 80 years after stepping through the doors for the first time

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 10/05/2017



A proud pensioner continues to visit the same local Central England Co-operative store in Leicester every day – 80 years after first stepping through the door.

Mary Norton is 90 years old but still makes a trip every single day across to the Hallam Crescent Food Store to pick up her daily essentials.

She first visited her local Co-op aged just 10 in 1937 tasked with fetching her mother’s weekly shop.

Ever since that day Mary has continued her association with the Co-op across the road – even going as far as still being able to remember her and her mother’s five digit share numbers off by heart.

In those eighty years Mary has seen the store change in appearance dozens of times and paying with shillings and pennies replaced with chip and pin devices.

She said: “I remember when my mum asked me to go for the first time to Hallam Crescent Co-op – mainly because it is such a different experience to what it is like today.

“I would head over with a list and go to each counter – ranging from butchery to grocery – and ask the attendant for the items on the list.

“They would then pick it out for you, pack it up and then take your money – how different to what we have to do now.”

The former dinner lady and cook supervisor, who was married to husband Peter until he passed away seven years ago, is an avid Leicester City supporter and keeps up to date with all things the Foxes by heading across to the store each day to pick up the Leicester Mercury.

The love for all things Co-op runs throughout the family with her two sons Paul and Michael also still able to recall past share numbers after years of nipping across for groceries with their mum.

She added: “What I love about the Central England Co-op in Hallam Crescent is that it is a little gold mine for me at the end of the road and I do not know what I would do without it.

“What I really love is when I go across is that the staff are still as helpful as when I first started going all those years ago. They are so friendly and even pack my bag for me. 

“The walk across to the store also keeps me fit and active and gets me out of the house.

“My daily visits to the store for all these years have become so well-known that people always ask when they ring up ‘Have you been to the Co-op yet?’.”

Mrs Norton remarked the biggest changes she has witnessed during her eight decades of shopping at the store is the way it has looked both inside and out and also the fact that it now has gone from stocking just the bare essentials to now stocking everything you need from groceries and bakery items to medicines and goodies for the garden.

Margaret Smith, Hallam Crescent Store Manager, said: “All the staff here at Hallam Crescent look forward to seeing Mary during her daily visits to the store.
“She is always so full of life, great to be around and always brightens up our day.

“To think she has been shopping in the Hallam Crescent Food Store all this time is amazing and that can no better advocate for all things Co-op, our store and our area than Mary.”


Notes to editors

About Central England Co-operative
Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK. It is a modern, forward-looking organisation employing over 8,000 staff, with projected gross sales of £958million for 2016/17. The Society recently celebrated being named Leading Co-operative of the Year 2016 by Co-operatives UK. The Society’s principal areas of activity are food, funeral services, and property. Central England Co-operative has more than 430 trading outlets across 16 counties including; West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.  The Society has an ambitious food store development programme for 2017. 
Central England Co-operative is proud of its reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.  It is a member of Business in the Community, the membership organisation that stands for responsible business, and has also won many business awards for excellence.  The Society supports a number of charities including Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children and invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities.
Becoming a member of Central England Co-operative offers a whole host of benefits ranging from collecting points every time you spend in store to earn a share of the profits, access to members activities and community initiatives including the Community Dividend Fund, which hands out grants of up to £5,000 to charities and good causes across the Society’s trading estate.
Find out how to become a Central England Co-operative member by calling 0800 0501 601, emailing members@centralengland.coop or visiting https://www.members.coop

For more information visit www.centralengland.coop, follow Central England Co-operative on Twitter: @mycoopfood, and on Facebook: facebook.com/centralenglandcooperative

Rob Smyth – PR officer - Central England Co-operative - 01543 414140
Email – publicrelations@centralengland.coop