He puts it down to people simply being “used to us being here”.

“The supermarket meant a lot of older people were saved from having to go down the street,” Mr Mathews said.

“It has been a real problem for them in their everyday lives — so many people have been affected by the fire.”

The Borella Road supermarket closed as the result of a fire lit in bins at the back of the store just after midnight on January 31.

With a rebuild in full swing, Mr Mathews wants to give a progress update to his loyal customers.

“We’re going to open up the store for people to come through and see what our plans are.”

“The ceiling grid’s going down at the moment, the floors are coming up, the roofing is being done and they’re about to put new floor coverings down — the refrigeration arrives after Easter, so it’s all happening.

“It’s nine weeks since the fire and we’ve got about eight weeks until it opens.”