Established in 1847, E.H. Booth & Co. Ltd – more commonly known as Booths - remains a family-owned and run business, now in its 5th generation under the chairmanship of Edwin Booth.
The retailer has 26 stores across Northern England, proudly selling the best quality locally sourced produce alongside established brands. Furthermore, each location showcases a unique design identity which reflects the surrounding landscape.
The store sits within the picturesque Ribble Valley, Lancashire. As well as being a tourist destination on its own merits, Clitheroe has become a popular base for visitors exploring the beautiful Forest of Bowland.
Philippa Walker, Retail Designer, worked alongside the Store Development Team to achieve this refurbishment on behalf of Booths.
Banks Flooring, who completed the flooring installation under the direction of its owner, Alex Banks, imparted professional advice ahead of the project commencing. Based near Preston, Lancashire, the company had completed eight previous store refurbishments for Booths.
Walker and the Store Development Team created an attractive proposal for the refurbishment. As with previous stores, the design brief was to create a warm and inviting environment using a carefully curated selection of flooring.
Overall, the flooring needed to be:
• Durable against daily heavy footfall and the use of supermarket trolleys
• Cost-effective across a large area
• Easy to maintain daily
• Available and fully stocked in a wide selection of shades and designs
After careful consideration, various Polyflor designs were chosen, with straight lines and angles favoured over complex curved patterns.
Booths specified the following shades within each area of the store:
• Delicatessen: Expona Commercial PUR - Urban Slate (5057) - 45m2
• Shop floor: Expona Commercial PUR - Everglade Oak (4101) - 1100m2
• Wines & Spirits: Expona Commercial PUR - Everglade Oak Versailles (4127) - 133m2
• Behind fresh food counters: Polysafe Mosaic PUR - Graphite Pearl (4165) - 120m2
• Behind raw food counters: Polysafe Mosaic PUR - Grey Fusion (4105) - 50m2
• Toilets: Expona Control PUR - Warm Grey Concrete (7504) - 15m2
• Upstairs staff area: Polysafe Stone fx PUR - Jetstone (4045) - 160m2
• Café 1847 – Expona Commercial Wood PUR - Dark Classic Oak (4088) - 60m2
The bright shop floor showcases Everglade Oak (4101), complimented by a selection of various Polyflor designs to highlight specialist areas, including a delicatessen, hot counter, cheesemonger, fishmonger, butcher, and a sizeable Wines & Spirits department.
The custom-made waterjet logo, formed in Expona Commercial PUR - Silica Micro Terrazzo (5126) and French Vanilla Oak (4058) - recognises the heritage of Booths.
Customers can also seek refreshment at Café 1847, which serves a choice of drinks alongside freshly prepared dishes made using ingredients available in-store. Dark Classic Oak (4088) was laid in a herringbone pattern in this space, contrasting the main shop floor pleasantly.
The store refurbishment commenced in April 2023, with the whole flooring work taking six weeks to complete, utilising three flooring fitters working Sunday to Thursday. Banks’s team operated in stages outside of business hours to ensure the continual smooth-running of the supermarket.
The whole floor received a new DPM and screed, completed one area at a time, allowing sufficient drying time ahead of staff and customers returning each morning.
Whilst supermarket projects can typically present surprises beneath the floor, the main concern for Banks Flooring on this project was timekeeping.
“There are lots of challenges,” acknowledges Banks. “But on this occasion, the test was making sure that everything was safe when we finished each night, knowing that the store had to be open to the public in the morning.”
Upon completion, the Clitheroe store boasted a refreshed appearance, befitting the company’s proud, longstanding history.
“The Everglade Oak planks specified for the main shop floor provide warmth and texture across a large area whilst complementing our pre-existing material palette,” reflects Walker, considering the highlights of the finished refurbishment.
“In the Wines & Spirits department, tiles from the same range help to highlight the area, create a traditional wine cellar aesthetic, and provide some continuation of the shop floor colour scheme. They were also comparatively easy to lay, supporting the time constraints of this project.
“Behind the counters, the pearlescent chip designs from Polysafe Mosaic provide a pleasant contrast to the shop floor layout whilst offering sustainable slip-resistance and simple daily maintenance properties for the benefit of staff.
“Additionally, the waterjet company logo, embedded within the Wines & Spirits department entrance flooring, forms a lovely feature which acknowledges the company’s heritage and accentuates the flow in design.”
"Overall, the Expona and Polysafe products proved to be durable, cost-effective, and easy to maintain, whilst the broad selection of designs allowed us to highlight the different areas within our store. We are incredibly pleased to see the positive results of yet another successful collaboration with Polyflor."
Philippa Walker, Retail Designer
