This year is set to the be biggest in Jaghtar Singh’s decade-long retail career, with one new shop and one major refurbishment. Kevin Scott caught up with him to get the lowdown on what is set to be a landmark year.
by Kevin Scott
With two stores in the Ayrshire coastal town of Saltcoats, you’d be forgiven for allowing Jaghtar Singh to limit his ambitions to a single postcode, but 2013 is set to change his family business forever when a third shop in Kilmaurs opens. Following that, work will begin on a huge refit to his Hamilton St store; a refurbishment that will more than double the trading floor space. In short, 2013 is looking to be a big year.
“I’m excited, things are certainly going to be keeping me busy next year,” he says. Just before Christmas SLR visited him, arriving just as staff were decking the store out in Christmas decorations.
The Hamilton St store has been in the business for nine years after the Singhs turned their back on the restaurant trade following 25 years of running multiple sites throughout the surrounding area. “We just felt the time was right to move on, and retail seemed like the best place to go,” he says. “People at the time thought we were mad, but while they’ve continued to struggle with restaurants in the current climate, our stores have been performing well.”
Of the two store currently operations, one is a Premier and one a KeyStore. “We like having the different offerings,” says Jaghtar. “Booker have been doing a great job of late however, so that’s why we went with them for the third site.”
The new store, which at 1,100 sq ft is slightly larger than the current offerings, should have been open in time for Christmas trading, but the sort of frustrating hold ups that many retailers will be familiar with, have left Jaghtar looking at a January opening.
“We just want to get trading now, we’re all set. The delays have been disappointing, but that’s the way it goes. When we do get open I’ve got high hopes. It’s a busy wee town and only currently has a Co-op and a small independent, so with the right products and the best customer service, we can do well there.”
When he advertised for staff at the new shop, Jahgtar received over 250 applications – something he says tells you everything you need to know about the economy. Unfortunately only six of those will be given jobs, but a new business does provide for the local economy, both in terms of employment and in services. For politicians, perhaps it is time they paid more attention to the small businesses that the country was built on, and worked out a better plan to keep them progressing and allowing the clear entrepreneurial spirit to flourish.
Customer first
Jaghtar is keen to promote customer service, and is the sort of retailer who knows every second customer by their first name. Having been based in the Hamilton St shop for as long as he has that is perhaps no surprise.
“It’s been a long year,” he admits. “Both with getting the new shop opened and with keeping the customers coming in here. Money is tight just now and costs are rising. I had to put my milk up to £1.10 recently and sales dropped off a cliff. When I reduced my margin by putting it back at £1, they came back up again. People are being very careful.”
Like many KeyStores, the shop is heavy on promotions, with a huge number of offers in the customer’s eyeline. It’s something Jaghtar says keeps customers coming back, and he will keep a promotion going for as long as he can. “Take our wine as an example, I try to keep as many around the £5-6 mark, on deals, as it keeps customers coming back.”
The shop itself is small and tightly packed, but there’s enough room to move around. it is what you’d label a small store though – bigger than a CTN, but not large enough to do a trolley-sized shop in. That’s all set to change next year though if Jaghtar’s plans go smoothly.
Once the Kilmaurs site is up and running, attention will turn to Hamilton St, where the size will increase to 2,500 sq ft by knocking through the back wall and extending the building out onto wasteland that is part of the property. It will create a long thin store with wide aisles and chillers hugging every wall. “Plans are afoot. We’ve been speaking to the bank and hopefully that will fall into place next year. We’ve dealt with the same bank for the last 25 years and we’ve got a good relationship with them, they know us well so everything is going smoothly so far.”
Five years in the making
The idea for extending the shop was planted around five years ago and has slowly been gestating in Jaghtar’s head. So why now? “The timing is just right now. We’ve got the business where we want it to be, and in its current state there’s not much more we can do with the shop – and of course, availability of money is factor.”
Jaghtar is coy when asked how much will be invested but for the sort of work he’s talking about it’s safe to talk in hundreds of thousands. The entire shop will be ripped out, front to back, but with most of the work being done behind the scenes, there will be minimum disruption. “We’re hoping to avoid closing the store and the shopfitter is confident that will be the case.”
The shopfitter, Crossmuir, came on recommendation from JW Filshill and the company’s plans – which SLR got a peak at – look fantastic. From a food-to-go area at the door, through to state-of-the-art chillers and an ergonomically and aesthetically pleasing till area, the new store will certainly be able to draw in more shoppers.
“We’re doing it to give the people who shop in Saltcoats something new, a reason not to go to the supermarket,” says Jaghtar. The street is beginning to die and it’s the job of local retailers like us to keep it alive. We can do that by investing in our shop. Not only will it provide more jobs for the community, but it becomes a bigger part of the community it serves.”
In addition there are plans to work with more local suppliers – including a local butcher, who could supply a range of meats on a daily basis in exchange for ‘renting’ a specific area of a chiller.
So, with one store set to open and another about to be doubled in size, next year will be interesting one and we’ll be sure to pay Jaghtar a visit in the next few months to report back on the changes to his business.
