A total of 14 new stores joined SPAR Scotland during the second half of 2020.
The convenience store group saw particular success in the north of the country, where four new sites signed-up.
One of the stores that joined is run by independent retailers Pamela and Stephen McKay in Portgordon, Moray. The 1,400sq ft village store, which opened in November, received a great response from the local community. The McKay’s said: “The excellent service and support we have received from the sales and development teams at SPAR Scotland has been fantastic. We are so pleased to be able to support the local community of Portgordon with a great convenience offer.”
Also impressed with the development and help available from SPAR Scotland’s merchandising and sales team are husband and wife team SOS Enterprises, who took over the Smiddyhill Road SPAR store in Fraserburgh last August. They said: “Customer feedback has been very positive, and they are pleased to see the SPAR brand and offers in the store.
“We now have a Costa Express and a new Rizza Ice Cream serve-over counter and with seven metres of chilled products and ranges from local bakeries and butchers, customers are able to enjoy a great food-to-go offer, picking up fresh sandwiches, baguettes and salads which are all prepared on-site.
“We wouldn’t be able to offer our customers this if we didn’t have the guarantee of three deliveries a week and the support of the development, merchandising and sales team at CJ Lang.”
Several new forecourt sites have also joined the group, including Esso Blackpark Filling Station in Inverness and the Ord Filling Station at Muir of Ord. Both are owned by Shyam Karthikeyan,
Blackpark is a 1,000sq ft licensed forecourt with a food-to-go area that offers hot food, freshly prepared sandwiches, baguettes and salads. Other products include Costa Express, Whippy ice-cream, National Lottery, car wash and Calor gas services.
In addition to this the conversion to SPAR saw the introduction of F’real milkshakes and Blue Ice slush. A new chiller extended the in-store chilled foods range.
Karthikeyan said: “SPAR offer an excellent service and provide a quality SPAR own label range. The team work closely together to maintain high standards throughout the process and we have been so impressed with their overall service since joining in October.
“I wanted to join SPAR because I wanted peace of mind. As an independent retailer based in Inverness, to know I will receive three deliveries a week, on time and complete is a huge benefit.”
Ord Filling Station is a 1,800sq ft licensed forecourt offering hot food, freshly prepared sandwiches and fresh coffee specially roasted for the site by Inverness Coffee Roasting Company. There is a Post Office on site, Whippy ice cream, National Lottery, car wash and Calor Gas deliveries.
The store stocks an excellent range of malts, gins and local craft beers from the Cromarty & Black Isle Brewing Companies. There is also a good range of local products from Harry Gow’s, Deas Bakery and the Black Isle Dairy.
Conversion to SPAR included the installation of F’real and a Blue Ice Slush Machine. A new chiller was installed extending the chilled foods range to five metres. The store manager, Kelly Mackenzie said: “I am delighted we are with SPAR. The service from this family business is excellent. The staff across all departments are very friendly and helpful.”
Mike Leonard (pictured), Sales Director for SPAR Scotland, said: “We are looking at progressive independent retailers everywhere from Aberdeenshire and Inverness-shire upwards as well as all other areas of Scotland. We know that we are delivering excellent service to independent retailers looking to join SPAR with a great in-store offer, co-investment opportunities, one-to-one regional business development manager support, a quality own label range and store development opportunities. With our depot based in Dundee, we can offer as many as three multi-temp deliveries a week to this part of the country. The north of Scotland will continue to be a huge focus for SPAR Scotland in 2021.”
To learn more about becoming a SPAR retailer, call 01382 512000.
