NISA HAIRST STREET, RENFREW

STORE PROFILE: PGNJ

HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN...STEPHEN MCINDOE?

GLASGOW-BASED RETAIL CHAIN PGNJ OPENED ITS EIGHTH STORE JUST OVER AWEEK AGO WITH THE NINTH DUE ONLINE IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. TWIR CAUGHT UPWITH DIRECTOR STEPHEN MCINDOE FOR THE LOWDOWN.

HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN STEPHEN?

Pretty good actually! There’s a lot going on with this store just opening and the refit underway on the next store so there’s a lot to keep us busy and smiling.

YOU’VE GOT EIGHT STORES OPEN NOW?

Yes, Hairst Street in Refrew is the eighth and ninth store, which is in Giffnock, should be open in the next few weeks. All of the stores are in the Glasgow area.

NOT BAD GOING FOR A COMPANY THAT’S ONLY TWO YEARS OLD?

Well, we’ve been in retail a bit longer than that but PGNJ Ltd is only two years old and we’ve been growing fast since then. There are four directors: myself and the three brothers: Jay, Saj and Iffy Javid.

ANY MORE STORES ON THE WAY?

Yes, we’re hoping to add another four in the near future.

ALL WITH NISA?

Yes, we started trading with Nisa about a year ago and they are our main supplier. Not all the stores were branded as Nisa, but we’re in the middle of branding them all under the Nisa fascia.

“We always believe in closing stores when we take them over to make it crystal clear to shoppers that the store is under new management and ownership – if you just re-open the day after you take over a lot of customers don’t realise that there’s new owners.”

WHEN DID THIS STORE OFFICIALLY OPEN?

We opened it on 6 November after a full refit. We were lucky because it had relatively been refitted to a good standard but we still had to do a lot of work to give it our own stamp. We turned everything in the shop 90 degrees to bring the counter nearer the front door and so that the shelving would run from front to back, rather than side to side the way it was, which we feel is more natural for shoppers.

HOW LONG WAS IT CLOSED FOR THE REFIT?

It was closed for almost a month but we always believe in closing stores when we take them over. Firstly, it lets us get the refits done much more easily but more importantly, we want to make it crystal clear to shoppers that the store is new and is under new management and ownership. If you just re-open the day after you take over a lot of customers don’t realise that there’s new owners. That’s just how we like to do it.

IT’S QUITE A BIG STORE SO YOU HAD A LOT OF SCOPE

Yes, it’s over 2,000sq ft and it’s a nice neat shape inside so we had room to include everything we needed and, to be fair, our customers seem to love their new store.

WHAT WAS THE ETHOS BEHIND THE PLANNING FOR THE NEW STORE

We try to keep retail simple. Essentially, we were really just aiming to offer our shoppers a great range and great value. We also wanted to make sure we incorporated key trends like hot and chilled food-to-go, high-quality coffee, fresh fruit and veg, vaping, gins and so on.

AND THE CO-OP RANGE FEATURES PROMINENTLY?

Yes, the Co-op own label range is really important to us, mainly because it’s a fantastic brand that customers love. They have real confidence in it and they perceive it as being a quality range. Plus, there’s more scope for us as retailers because the margins are usually better than you can get on many of the big brands.

TELL US ABOUT THE FOOD-TO-GO BAY…

We wanted an eye-catching focal point for shoppers as soon they walk through the door, so we’ve created a bay with a Costa, F’real and Skwishee machines that’s nice and bright and lively with constantly changing digital screens. It looks engaging and attractive and it also helps set our stall out, if you know what I mean? Our fresh range is right next to that bay and the chilled cabinets face it, so it lets customers know we’re all about food-to-go and fresh and chilled.

AND NO EXPENSE SPARED ON THE REFIT?

We take the refits seriously because we want our stores to have a real ‘wow’ factor when customers come in. There’s so much competition these days that the store really has to look great to stand out. Nisa did a lot of the layout work for us and Mardec did the actual refit. There was a big focus on making the store feel spacious and roomy and we worked hard on elements like high quality lighting which really help lift the store and give it a warm, welcoming feel.

YOU’RE NOT SHORT OF COMPETITION EITHER?

There’s stores all around us but, to be honest, we don’t worry too much about what other retailers are doing. We focus on what we’re doing and do it the best we can and that strategy has been working for us.

DID YOU NEED A WHOLE NEW TEAM FOR THIS STORE?

We have around 60 staff now so we’re lucky in that the management team for the store is all people that already worked for us and know what we want and what we expect. But we did recruit a lot of local people too.

IT’S EARLY DAYS, BUT HOW IS THE STORE PERFORMING?

Very well, we’re really pleased. Our first week was ahead of projections and our second week was bigger again so we’re happy. We had a Free Skwishee Day earlier this week and that was really popular, as you can imagine, and brought lots of new faces to the store. The data we got from the previous owners wasn’t fantastic, but we can pretty confidently say we’re up very significantly on what they were achieving, so we’re in a good place and excited about Christmas.

HOW HAS THE COMPANY BEEN DOING DURING LOCKDOWN?

We can’t complain! Broadly speaking, business has doubled. In the first few weeks after lockdown in March sales just kept climbing and climbing and we couldn’t believe it. They held that way for a long time and even now they’re still well above where they would normally be.

THAT MUST HELP…

Well, it certainly doesn’t do any harm. The extra revenue helps with adding new stores but one of the biggest benefits is that we’ve been able to recruit a lot of new staff. It’s also been a rewarding experience because a lot of our new team had been made redundant so it’s nice to be able to get them back into work with a company that’s growing and doing well.

SO IT’S ONTO THE NEXT ONE?

As always! We have big plans and so far we’ve been exceeding our own ambitious targets and it’s a great place to be in. It’s a great industry and it’s fantastic to see it thriving.