RETAILER INTERVIEW
CRAIG DUNCAN KEYSTORE MADDISTON, FALKIRK
HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN…..
CRAIG DUNCAN
FORMER COSTCUTTER HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR SCOTLAND HAS RECENTLY FULFILLED THE AMBITION OF A LIFETIME BY BUYING HIS FIRST STORE JUST TWO MINUTES FROM HIS HOME IN A SMALL VILLAGE OUTSIDE FALKIRK.
think coronavirus was going to turn into the issue it has. But I’ve been so lost in preparing for taking over the business that I didn’t really get much of a chance to think about it.
YOU MOVED IN JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS BEFORE LOCKDOWN THEN? Yes, it was a couple of weeks before lockdown and about a week before customers started acting a bit funny and buying loads of toilet roll and pasta. It was only when I went on what was only my third trip to the cash and carry and got refused entry because I hadn’t registered that I realised things were getting a bit serious.
HAD YOU ALWAYS FANCIED BEING A RETAILER? HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN CRAIG? Busy! And a bit mad, but in a good way. I’ve only been in the store since the start of March and the first couple of months have been a real experience, I can tell you.
HOW AWARE WERE YOU OF CORONAVIRUS WHEN YOU DECIDED TO BECOME A RETAILER? We actually started the process of buying the store at the end of last summer and even when we got into the deep legal stuff in January I still didn’t
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Having worked in retail for decades, I’d always had an idea in the back of my head of about building a chain of stores – so better late than never, I guess!
WHAT’S THE STORE LIKE? Small, and very close to my house! It’s only 500sq ft which presents a few problems around both social distancing and storage, but I literally live two minutes away so I know it quite well. It was fully refitted last year so it’s in good condition. I’ve known the previous owner a long time and he’s been great. He really helped before I moved in
