Carrickstone Farm Shop

01/09/2026

PARCEL UPDATE:

With immediate effect we will be limiting the number of parcel drop-offs/returns to 3 per customer, per day.

As many will be aware, we have been having capacity issues, particularly with Evri, and customers purchasing goods are highlighting delays at the till due to parcels.

A number of factors have given rise to recent increases in the volume of parcels, including withdrawal of services in other shops.

Additionally, some people wishing to drop off parcels are becoming frustrated when we are having to turn away parcels as storage space is full. It is anticipated that this measure should help to relieve capacity issues.

Parcel services are provided primarily as a convenience for shoppers in store and secondly to generate additional sales. The service providers have further reduced payments to shops since last year by between 25-28% and due to the costs of increasing staff to deal with parcels, we subsidise the service heavily.

We will be making changes to how we manage parcels within the next few weeks, having decided to continue providing the service meantime.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

11/08/2026

The joy of the internet!!

Not the first time on google that we have seen reviews like this.

A “local guide” whose reviews span the country, many without comment, I hope that our response makes our thoughts clear.

Genuinely, we respect that everyone has the right to express their view and if we have caused someone to have a negative experience then we are keen to know, to allow us to improve or address issues. The question for us though, do reviewers actually consider the impact or effect that their comments or ratings can have? Why do some people think it is appropriate to post reviews like this? We feel driven to question the motivation behind things like this.

The business owners and staff work incredibly hard to try and keep our customers happy. If we have done something wrong then let us know and we will try to do better. We are a small, local shop, continually working to improve our range of products and currently have over 1900 product lines, which is a lot for a shop of this size!

Fresh rolls daily, sourdough bread at the weekends and an exclusive range of butchers breakfast items and pies etc, free range eggs and other locally produced items, we would like to do even more….

09/08/2026

EVRI parcel drop offs-
Unfortunately Evri have stopped collecting on Sundays and we are already at capacity and will not be able to take in any more Evri parcels until the driver picks up on Monday.
Sorry for any inconvenience, we have already raised this with Evri.
The volume of Evri parcels has increased recently, due in part to other shops ceasing to provide services, however due to limitations on space, there is a limit to the number of parcels we can take.

02/08/2026

A few of the new products which we have introduced recently.

We are working with new suppliers and have been improving or adding to our range!

At the last count we had 1900+ individual products in our compact convenience store. Every square inch of space matters…..

01/08/2026

A lot of folk have been asking about our wonderful Sourdough and it has been selling fast this weekend.

From Brot & Co, a small bakery who make nothing but sourdough bread, great pedigree, slow fermentation, all natural, unforced and free from additives. The results speak for themselves.

21/07/2026

Unfortunately there will be no newspapers or magazines today.We have just been told that the delivery van was involved in an accident and the driver taken to hospital.

This means that other shops/outlets locally will also be affected.

Apologies for any disappointment, normal service will resume tomorrow.

05/07/2026

We are currently at capacity and will not be able to take in EVRI returns/drop offs until EVRI arrive on Monday! Apologies for any inconvenience.

We still have some space for other carriers including Inpost/Yodel, Royal Mail etc

08/06/2026

Parcel services

We are first and foremost, a small, independent convenience store with approximately 1900 individual products, serving the local area. We are constantly looking at the range of products we provide to see what we can improve and presently we are working with some new suppliers and refreshing product lines.

Our core business is retail, although we do provide a number of additional services, including parcel pick up/drop off for most carriers and Paypoint services.

To accommodate parcels, we have dedicated a storage area, having built an extension in recent years and increased staffing at key times, in order to provide this service. We continue to process a high volume of parcels daily, greater than most other independent shops.

The income from parcel and other services does NOT cover the cost to the business of providing these services, which is heavily subsidised by our primary business, which is the sale of goods. The reason for providing additional services is to raise awareness, generate footfall and to try and increase sales.

Parcels in particular absorb a lot of time and can be the cause of issues. All of the instances of abusive behaviour experienced and even one assault of a staff member, have arisen from parcels. Parcel sizes and type can be a problem, we do have to restrict the size of what we can accept, simply because of available space! If a supermarket is refusing to take a parcel, please do not expect us to take it.

We are continuing to provide parcel services in anticipation of new self service functions becoming available soon, but like any other business we have to monitor and review the services we provide to ensure that the additional services are viable.

If you are wondering why we are making this post, it is simply to address perceptions and comments made by parcel customers in the shop. We do not want to discourage use of parcel services, but feel that it is important to be transparent.

We value our customers and are genuinely grateful to our customers old and new for their custom and support.

04/06/2026