Motherwell | Focus on...
Inside Business
PREMIER, THE LOANING STEVEN ROBB
Robb’s Store, as it is known locally, has been run for the last seven years by Steven Robb, and he says that over the last six months or so, the shop has been “quite slow”, though year-on- year figures are within expectations. “There’s a lot of unemployment in the area,” he says. “That means people are shopping day to day, buying just what they need, things like bread and milk.”
So, business is brisk, with a steady stream of customers, but the problem is that basket spend is down, which means Steven is having to work harder and look at new ways of increasing sales. But, when your customers are working to very tight budgets but one saving grace has been fresh food – an area Steven says has expanded in the last year. He recently changed fascias from Londis to Premier but he puts the rise in fresh sales down to changing shopping habits. He says: “Our fresh food sales are doing well; a lot of that is to do with people not going to the supermarket as much.” There’s that word – supermarket. Two Asdas and a Morrisons in the town is the main reason Steven has never applied for an alcohol licence, but he also says he’d rather not attract customers that would be undesirable. The future, Steven says, is all down to employment. “The store’s success is down to people keeping their jobs, or getting one. Things like a good summer will help, but ultimately, if another factory or business closes down, it will be very harmful.”
“OUR FRESH SALES ARE DOING WELL DUE TO PEOPLE NOT GOING
TO THE SUPERMARKET AS OFTEN..” STEVEN ROBB
SPAR LEVEN ST OMAR NASIR
Spar Leven St is an SLR Award-winning store managed by Omar Nasir. Having ticked along well enough for years the shop was given a huge boost earlier in the year when it was finally granted an alcohol licence. “It took us a long time to get there with it, but we’ve seen an uplift of £4,000- £5,000 per week since we started selling alcohol”, says Omar. That’s not a result you hear of too often in local retail. The reason, says
Omar, is because his shop is the only one on that side of a busy dual carriageway, so previously anyone looking for beer or wine would have had to get in a car or prepare for a long walk.
The neighbourhood itself is much like the rest of the town, working class with a mixture of council and private residents, although Omar points out there a growing number of affluent households. “It’s a reasonable area. There are the usual council estates, but there are a lot of expensive houses nearby which gives me a mixed demographic.” As a result, Omar ensures his offering has something for everyone – which he says is keeping the shop steady in a time of economic difficulty for many of his customers. “We might be doing well, but the same can’t be said for Motherwell town centre,” says Omar. “It’s changed beyond recognition in recent years and many shops are beginning to close down and be replaced with pound shops and other bargain shops.”
Omar remains hopeful that the town centre will be redeveloped, and inject much needed confidence into the town, but for the time being, he’s being kept busy as he gets used to being an off-trade retailer.
Next month Focus on Dumfries
WWW.55NORTH.COM JUNE 2012 | SLR 55
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