A family-run Oakengates home essentials shop is beating the credit crunch by going online.

For the past three months SJ Homestores’ value stock has been flying off the shelves through its shop site on the giant internet marketplace eBay.

Sales rose so sharply since June that the Telford cyberstore has now been given PowerSeller status by eBay.

Although the eBay store had been online since the summer of 2007, it hadn’t really taken off until SJ Homestores brought in local business consultant Kerry Swinton, pictured, to develop it.

The company is now also planning to launch its own website in January and install computer screens in store so that locals can check stock and take it away that day.

And while the eBay shop carries around 200 items of stock, it is planned that the new website will carry the full range. SJ Homestores has around 11,000 product lines.

Sales have gone from virtually nothing to £300 and then £500 a week.

Kerry, from Telford, said: “We’re still aiming higher. We want to be getting £600 worth of sales every week. We’re hoping to achieve that in the next few months.”

While members of the public are looking for ways to save cash, it appears that they are still willing to fork out their hard earned cash if they can get a good deal.

Kerry said: “We’re a home essentials value store for the home and garden. One of our best sellers is Glade air fresheners and we recently experienced a sales boom on luggage scales.”

“People are still spending their money. Obviously we’re hoping to go global. At the moment we are UK only but we are trying to branch out to the global market. We’re hoping to have a lot of Christmas gifts on the eBay shop.”