Hythe Convenience Store at Folkestone, situated right of the main entrance, opposite the central seating area & food units, towards the front of the amenity building. Hythe Convenience Store is an independent shop offering a similar product range to WHSmith. Customers can purchase snacks, drinks, travel essentials & books. Hythe Convenience Store is huge & uses the same amount of space as the KFC, Subway & Chopstix units here combined. Its theme colour is red, and the shop resembles an Iceland grocery store somewhat. This shop is open 7:30am-9pm, so customers can't use it during the night, so the only alternative is the Shell forecourt. Hythe Convenience Store hasn't changed at all since opened and has operated at the site since opening in 2008. It used to work alongside WHSmith & various other shops which have had a history of operating at Stop 24, including HMV & Whittard of Chelsea. These days, it faces no competition & is the only shop at the site. Hythe Convenience Store is low cost for a motorway services, so customers would be pleasantly surprised. The difficulty with this shop is that it's independent & customers likely won’t be familiar with it, unlike the typical motorway affaire of WHSmith. Despite this, it's nice to document something unique at a motorway services and Folkestone wouldn't be the same without Hythe Convenience Store. Stop24 being purchased by a Getlink company has already created changes around the site (plans for 2 new drive Thrus & a brand new fitness suite). They may seek to rebrand/replace Hythe Convenience Store with a more contemporary shop. Again, this photo evidences the bright and spacious nature of the amenity building at Folkestone. We have large windows above the shop, blue pillars and lots of customer seating. This photo also shows how deserted Folkestone has become, with various empty units being on display & not many customers filling the seats. There are multiple reasons that Folkestone is as quiet as it is, but the main one is its location & close proximity to the Channel Tunnel/Dover. Hythe Convenience Store was practically empty during my visit. It was rather eerie being in such a large shop with no one else around! 12pm is normally a busy time for motorway services, but 12pm at Folkestone was very quiet. Hythe Convenience Store isn't included on the signposts for Folkestone services on either direction of the M20, as it's not a brand customers will recognise & leave the motorway for. Hythe Convenience Store is included on the small totem pole outside the amenity buildings entrance, but isn't advertised much elsewhere around the site.

Photo taken on 21/07/2024 by Tom Moon.

Assigned to galleries: Folkestone, Stop 24, M20