A new year is upon us and we’ve cleaned out the shelves of Christmas goods and are now looking forward to a spectacular trading year, or are hopes and ambitions a bit more grounded after 2012? We see what our panel thinks.
John Cuthbertson
Premier retailer
It will hopefully be a good year. We’re in the process of trying to get permission to extend the store – we need more space to do what we want, which is improve our food-to-go offering and install an in-store bakery.
We’re unique here being on Dundee University campus and there’s still room for success. Tesco has just opened a second Express store not far from here but the student market is where we specialise and 25% of our customers are new every year so we have to ensure they come to us.
Omar Nasir
Spar retailer
I think it’s going to be a good 2013. The country is officially out of recession so that should hopefully get more people spending and with minimum pricing coming in, more people might buy their drinks in their local store. We’ve got a lot of plans too – we’ve just bought another shop in Wishaw, which is going to be a Premier, and we’ve got plans to open a bookmakers and a pharmacy on vacant sites next to the Leven Street shop. That’s happening at the same time new houses are being built near us so it’s going to be busy next year.
Dennis Williams
Premier retailer
I wouldn’t say we’re optimistic but we’re always positive. We believe that if you do thing right and give the customer what they want then they’ll come back. We managed to grow this year – not a lot, but it’s in the right direction. It’s our 30th anniversary in March so there will be a month of celebrations and some crazy price promotions – that will give the shop a huge buzz. Before than, there will be a lot of £1 deals, and we’ll be getting involved in the SGF Healthy Living Programme event.
Scott Graham
McLeish’s
I can’t see the economy recovering quickly and that means, especially at the start of the year it will be tough going. We’ll be running a tight ship, looking at prices and doing a full range review, looking at last year’s figures to see what’s been working and what hasn’t been.
Most people see Inverurie as an affluent town that’s perhaps immune to the effects of recession, but one of the things about it being full of independent shops is that the pounds being spent are diluted.
