Arbaaz Hayat and his family have helped revitalise the local community on Yokermill Road in Glasgow by re-opening a store that had lain empty for nine months.
By Antony Begley
A newly-refitted Nisa Local store on Yokermill Road in Glasgow is helping revitalise its community and offer a hub for the local area after having lain empty for nine months.
The store was officially opened at the end of April by Carol Monaghan, MP for Glasgow North-West and offers a strong range of products and services including fresh and frozen, groceries, a Post Office, a dessert parlour, a Costa Coffee machine and a hot food counter.
Arbaaz Hayat, one of the owners of the family-run business, said he and his family had a very specific vision for this particular store and added the family has plans to expand its portfolio of stores in the future should the right opportunities arise.
“The vision with this wasn’t just to open a shop or just to be a convenience store,” said Arbaaz. “The vision was to be a one-stop point for the community and to provide something exciting. We wanted to give the community options that aren’t on offer elsewhere and make it a bit of an attraction. I think it’s important to have somewhere that, even if you come in feeling not so great, you can leave feeling bright and vibrant.”
Customer feedback
Arbaaz said a lot of work went into the design, layout, and lighting of the shop to make sure it created the right kind of atmosphere. Since opening, Arbaaz said he had made a point of carefully listening to customer feedback and has used it to help continually shape the store’s offer to make sure it perfectly meets the needs of the local customer base.
“Customers have come to us with requests, so we try our best to fulfil them,” said Arbaaz.
Unsurprisingly, the reaction from the local community has been phenomenal: “The response has been absolutely incredible, even better than we expected,” he said. “I think – because of the way the shop was previously and the improvements that we have made – people really appreciate it.
“It’s about people being able to get everything they need in one place. It’s important to give people somewhere local to get everything they need and to minimise the trips further out.”
Hot stuff
One of the biggest upgrades to the Yokermill Road site is the addition of a new hot food counter which offers a wide range of options including sandwiches, burgers, freshly made samosas – handmade every day – and chips.
Matthew Howie, Retail Development Manager at Nisa, added: “The main difference that this store brings to the community is a huge range in comparison to what was here before, as well as good value. This store is all about community and I’m looking forward to seeing the difference the store can make in the community using Nisa’s Making a Difference Locally charity.
“I’ve been coming here about three times a week for the last six months so it’s great to see the store get to this point.
“There have been some hurdles, but we’ve got there which is the main thing. I’m also looking forward to developing more stores with the guys, because they do have plans to do that.”
