CJ Lang & Son has launched Spar Market – its first new company store since 2017 – as part of its ongoing business transformation programme.
The company bought a third-generation family-run convenience store Kinnaird’s Nisa Local, in Dalbeattie, Dumfriesshire, to launch its first Market format store.
The store is a ‘step-change’ in its customer fresh food and produce offering. The store has a strong focus on fresh fruit and vegetables, chilled foods, and caters for key customer missions including ‘making a meal’ and ‘grab and eat’.
The store features an extensive range of fresh produce and food from many local suppliers, including Irving’s Bakery, Mitchells of Castle Douglas, Irthingvale Wholesale, Lockerbie Cheddars, and Galloway Preserves.
In addition, Spar Scotland’s ‘CJ’s’ food-to-go counter offers ready-to-eat hot breakfast rolls throughout the morning and extends into the evening with a selection of hot food. This is complimented by craft Scottish baker Browning’s, offering a wide selection of bakery products, morning goods and cakes.
A self-serve Costa Express coffee machine, Tango Ice Blast and frozen Calippo slush machine will be installed in the coming weeks.
A home delivery service will continue, which will be complimented with the introduction of the Snappy Shopper app.
Store Manager Marie McMinn, along with her team, invited the community to a launch event last week. Customers could pick up free goody bags, spin the wheel to win prizes, and sample some treats. Local organisations, Alma Mcfayden Care Home and Dalbeattie Playgroup, received donations of £1,000 each from Spar Scotland.
CJ Lang & Son company-owned stores operations director, Brian Straiton, said: “We are very excited to be back in the property market to acquire new convenience stores as part of our business strategy of adding an additional three to four stores per year to our company-owned estate.”
He added: “Spar Market is an exciting new fresh, chilled and produce store format for CJ Lang and Spar Scotland that will really help to differentiate and grow from our traditional Spar customer offer.
“As a genuinely Scottish family business we share many similar values with the Kinnaird family. We want to maintain all the great work that they have done, and build upon these, whilst adding additional Spar Scotland products and services to the store.”
