Naafi Build Own Mobile Self-service Shop
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TO improve their service to Army and Royal Air Force
families in isolated married quarters in the Catterick area, Naafi (the Navy, Army, and Air Force Institutes) have converted a Bedford coach into a " help-yourself ". shop. The work was specified by the transport branch and carried out by Parnell of Bristol.
The coach, a 1949 .model, with Spurling "airline "-type body and Perkins P6 oil engine, has already seen service in Germany as a mobile sports-equipment shop. For its latest task, the stepped floor has been levelled off and rebuilt with extruded aluminium to give an interior length of 19 ft. 9 in. and a width of 6 ft. 10 in. Headroom is 6 ft. 2 in. at the front entrance and 7 ft. 4 in. at the rear. Interior light is provided by the glazing of the stepped roof and three large opening windows forward of the step.
Customers collect shopping baskets at the front entrance and select their purchases from shelving on each side of the
central gangway. A large Frigidaire refrigerator keeps perishable food in excellent condition. The ice-box is -reduced to 0. overnight and 11-hours' running from the dynamo during the morning break is sufficient to maintain the temperature required.
The cash desk adjoins the rear exit on the near side of the vehicle. An assistant operates a Sweda cash register-calculator which totals the items and calculates discounts in a matter of seconds.
If proved successful at Catterick, the prototype shop will be followed by more elaborate models for service at home and overseas.