David’s Kitchen Glenrothes was the first store ever to bear the David’s Kitchen name, and the store remains as visionary and progressive as ever, as highlighted by its double win at this year’s SLR Awards.
By Antony Begley
It’s difficult these days to imagine just how visionary the David’s Kitchen concept was almost a decade and a half ago when it first burst onto the scene with its first store in Glenrothes. The brainchild of legendary retailer David Sands, the new business boldly announced that it would be setting its sights squarely on the food-to-go market and effectively taking convenience retailing in an entirely new direction. It was, to all intents and purposes, a food-to-go business with a convenience store tacked on.
But remember that this was in 2014. David Cameron was Prime Minister. The Scottish Referendum was going on. It was a long time ago. And back then, food-to-go just wasn’t a thing. Many considered the entire concept, frankly, a bit nuts.
Hindsight, however, demonstrates that David Sands was a visionary. Years of touring the globe with a notebook in hand had convinced him that Scotland was ready for the food-to-go revolution. He knew it would take time, and he knew it would take money – but fortunately he had plenty of both following the sale of his 28-strong eponymous chain of stores to the Co-op in 2012.
The result was a business like no other in Scotland. His concept was way ahead of its time and, indeed, it did take a little time to gain proper traction but his commitment to the highest of standards right across the store – every minute it was open – was undoubtedly key in ensuring that the business flourished.
Doing food-to-go well, as anyone that has tried it will tell you, is a demanding and expensive business. Lots of people, lots of hours and lots of investment are required to keep a food-to-go store well stocked, pristine, fully manned and spotlessly clean. Customers don’t like buying hot or chilled food-to-go from dirty or three-quarters empty hot holds or chillers. So the journey to building enough volume to firstly justify the investment and then turn it into profit is a challenging one that requires both money and nerve.
David’s hunch was correct, however, and Glenrothes took off. A year later in 2015, a second store opened in Falkirk before a third was added in Kirkcaldy in 2019. Most recently, the Bo’ness store opened in August this year.
Standard bearer
Despite all the fantastic new stores joining the fold, Glenrothes remains an absolutely banging store and is rightly viewed by many in the sector as a standard bearer for food-to-go. That was also the view of our judges for this year’s SLR Awards who awarded the store not one but two shiny gongs: Food-To Go Retailer of the Year and Fresh & Chilled Retailer of the Year.
It’s an impressive feat for a store that started this whole ball rolling to still be leading the pack more than a decade later. So what makes Glenrothes stand out so vividly?
Well, where do we start? The store retains that classic David’s Kitchen ethos of being immaculate at all times. Our judging visits are unannounced, so the stores don’t know we’re coming. In other words, they haven’t had the chance to go about tittyfying the store, putting their uniforms on and brushing their hair ahead of the judges’ visit.
We visited Glenrothes on maybe four or five occasions and the wider store just always looked that good: impressively tidy, expertly merchandised and fully stocked. When it comes to the food-to-go sections of the store, which is a lot of the footprint, it’s the same story.
With today’s customers all too familiar with the slick lines and minimalist modern fit-outs of the likes of Prêt and M&S Simply Food, creating the right environment is critical in making sure they don’t feel like they’re dropping down a level when they visit a convenience store. For my money, David’s Kitchen blows Prêt and the likes clean out of the water.
Granted, the store has had a lot of years to build footfall and loyalty which means that they can confidently ram metre upon metre upon metre of chilled space with a truly outstanding range of food-to-go without fear of having to throw a lot of it in the bin. It’s a luxury position to find themselves in but it’s a position they have earned over years of graft and commitment.
It’s possibly the biggest challenge in food-to-go: building volumes to a level where you can keep chillers and hot holds packed all day long – which makes them look inviting – but without worrying about astronomical waste. And there’s no shortcut available. You couldn’t simply replicate Glenrothes’s layout and range in any other store and expect the same results because you would indeed end up throwing most of it in the bin at the end of the day. It takes time and nerve to get to the level on show in Glenrothes.
But it’s not just the enticing packed chillers and mouth-watering, belly-rumbling hot section that’s impressive. What’s actually in the chillers and hot holds is just as inspiring. The vast majority of what you’ll find has been made fresh by hand that day. No pre-pack wholesale sandwiches or rubber baguettes. Yes, we’re talking lunch time kitchen shifts, back shifts and night shifts and large-scale production in the central kitchen to ensure that everything for sale in those chillers is home-made daily using great quality ingredients. Baguettes, wraps, salads, ready meals, pizzas, sandwiches, you name it. The menu is regularly tweaked and tracked to see what’s selling and what’s not and the kitchen team regularly refreshes the menu to keep customers engaged.
The store also never stands still. A new range of Chinese ready meals was added early this year, an expanded range of desserts and treat options was added, a Barista coffee machine was installed.
None of this is rocket science – but it requires a level of commitment and passion that isn’t easily replicated.
Margin makers
The net result? Between 30% and 40% of the store’s entire turnover is accounted for by food-to-go and, as we all know, food-to-go maybe be hellish hard work but it’s also hellish worth it when you get it right. Margins can be eye-watering, and we all know how important high margins are these days.
As if that wasn’t enough, the store has a flourishing outside catering division where catering options are provided to local businesses and organisations for meetings, staff training sessions, birthdays and more. A local factory, for example, was celebrating its 50th birthday and the store catered for a hot lunch for 550 people across four shift breaks! On a smaller scale, the store routinely delivers platters and hot breakfast rolls on a weekly basis.
And, of course, food-to-go can be delivered to anyone who wants to order for home delivery. All told, David’s Kitchen is unquestionably a trailblazer when it comes to food-to-go.
It’ll come as no surprise then to learn that Glenrothes is no slouch on the fresh and chilled front, another vital and growing category. The store prides itself on the close relationship it enjoys with local, regional and national suppliers across key fresh categories like meat, vegetables and fish.
Immaculately presented, as you would expect, the range is sublime and the quality on show is next level. A lot of what’s available is premium, with premium price tags, but it’s perfect for the store’s audience. Plus, the kitchen team have been doing their bit to add some value by preparing pre-sliced and packed veggies for soup or stews, all badged up with the lovely David’s Kitchen branding.
Growing stronger
It’s hard to find fault with anything in Glenrothes, as the judges agreed. It’s the epitome of a modern store and has remained ahead of the pack for well over a decade. There’s very little to rival it in Scotland, certainly on the food-to-go front, and the only obvious pretenders to its SLR Food-To-Go Retailer of The Year crown are, of course, the three other David’s Kitchen stores.
It’s the store that changed everything and it’s still as impressive as the day it first opened way back in 2014.
