Jay Javid has revealed major plans to restructure PGNJ Group and open three new stores in and around Glasgow by March 2025.
He told Scottish Local Retailer that the business, which currently operates 11 Nisa stores, would be looking to take on key personnel when it moves to bigger headquarters shortly. “We’re totally restructuring the company instead of me writing everything on the back of a fag packet!” he said. “We’re constantly trying to change and get better at what we do.”
The ambitious retailer added: “I’m opening three new stores, which I’m really, really pushing hard. Hopefully one will open this year and the other two in the first quarter of next year. One is an ex-community centre, one is a new build and one is a showroom.”
As part of plans to streamline the business, Jay recently rolled out Lavazza On The Move coffee at six of his stores. He wanted a coffee offer that would work as well at a 5,000sq ft store as it did in a 1,200sq ft store and claimed “Lavazza fitted the bill perfectly”, highlighting that two of the stores had seen a 100% increase in like-for-like sales since switching from their existing self-serve offer. He claimed that the machines were easy maintenance, taking just 15-20 minutes a day to clean, compared with one of his other machines which took an hour and a half. Another major draw with the new machines was their ability to offer oatmilk, which Jay claimed was bringing in a lot of new customers.
But what clinched the deal for Jay was the relationship he has built with the coffee firm. “It was nothing to do with margin,” he said. “It’s that we have a good contact and that was a game changer for me. I liked the ethos of Lavazza, they’re very family orientated and so are we. The dots connected straight away.
“It suited our needs and we took the plunge and we’re very happy. I can’t dress enough to other retailers to get them in and try it out.”
