Making the most of the Spar Scotland Trade Show

Susan Hutchison, Spar Abbey Road, Scone, Perthshire

“The last tradeshow was really, really good. There were lots of thought-provoking ideas from the show – a different way to display something or a different product. The destination is a great one for the majority of people. There’s lots of accommodation so myself and my son go up the night before to prepare for the day ahead. It’s a full-on day from the minute you start. The best thing for me is to be able to speak to suppliers directly. They’re there with their stands, telling you about new products.

One year, we saw a F’Real machine at the tradeshow. I’d never have had a milkshake machine in store before we saw it there. You get the chance to try things and speak to people. It’s not to be missed.

Apart from the fact you’re meeting a lot of different suppliers, you also meet lots of retailers. They’re doing things differently to you and also they’re having the same problems as you. It’s more crucial for independents to come as they’ll benefit more from speaking to suppliers, retailers and people from CJ Lang who they might not have come across – someone from buying or someone from marketing for example.

As we move forward it’s inspirational – and I don’t use that word lightly. I have been in retail for 35 years in the same family business – we just celebrated 65 years last year.

CJ Lang is a family-run business as well – so they’re similar to us. It’s important that they understand us and we understand them, the tradeshow is crucial. To come together with other retailers you feel part of something, you feel you’re not on your own.

Daniall Nadeem, Spar Motherwell Road, Bellshill, North Lanarkshire

I went to Spar Scotland tradeshow last year. I thought it was fantastic – the turnout, the support, the atmosphere. I wanted to chat to different retailers and suppliers and engage in conversation. It was a combination of being able to see what Spar was able to offer, what product ranges and suppliers were available that we weren’t aware of and the support that suppliers offer.

Also, it’s about getting into the nitty gritty and being vocal about any concerns you have and having the opportunity to speak to the right people.

Being a massive Scottish retailer – and after coming from Nisa down south – to see brands like Malcolm Allan and Mrs Tilleys was great – there’s a big focus on being Scottish.

The biggest takeaway for me last year was on coffee and food to go. We haven’t expanded our offer, but Barista Bar was at the show. I looked at it and several months on, we moved over to Barista. It was the best thing we’ve done.

I would say keep an open mind, come and have a good time, experience Spar, visit every single stand, and make sure you are having the right conversations with the right people.

I would recommend every single retailer to go to this event. Everybody is so busy at their stores on a daily basis. This is the only time retailers get to get together – find out who is doing things differently.

That’s one thing I love about Spar: we have such a great network of incredible retailers at the peak of their game. With every symbol group there’s always a lot of different misconceptions about stock, deliveries, etc. It’s easy to talk to a Spar rep, but there’s nothing like speaking to a retailer to answer those questions for you.