Lake District: Shop in Windermere sees major change under new owner

Marcus Parkinson took over the former Heathwaite Store on Park Road from Panjalingam Karunakumaran, known as Mr PK. Mr PK is still involved in the business although he runs another shop in Burneside and has left the Windermere store in Marcus's hands.

"I have been here since I was young - we live in Ambleside so not too far away," said Marcus. He described the store as 'a bit run down' so he stripped it down and installed new windows. 

The shop fitters installing new windows - the old signage is still visible (Image: Windermere Convenience Store)

The shop will be under a Premier branding so it has to conform to the standards of the franchise. 

"We have to build everything to their spec," Marcus said. "We have to spend a decent amount on the store.

"It's a substantial sum of money - hundreds of thousands of pounds going to this shop. Every day I open new emails - all the electrics we need to upgrade. I'm sure when I get all the invoices I will be tearing my hair out." 

Marcus does not have an opening date for the store yet as Electricity North West still need to give him a timescale on how long their work will take. He praised the shopfitters for helping them out 'with every niggle and issue we've faced.' 

The shop when Marcus first took it over from Mr PK (Image: Submitted)

When it does open, Marcus said: "It has been completely gutted inside and outside - it will look brand new. There will be stuff like a coffee machine, new fridges and freezers going in. We will be serving food from the local bakery."

He said locals had asked for the shop to have an Evri parcel delivery service. "We're trying to feed into what everyone wants," he said. 

The shop now - it has been 'completely gutted' (Image: Submitted)

In January, Mr PK spoke out about his experience of being a subpostmaster during the Horizon scandal. Until the takeover, the words 'Post Office' from when it served this purpose were still visible in the signage.