RETAILER INTERVIEW

RETAILER INTERVIEW - HARRY AHMED, NISA LOCAL, GREENOCK

HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN... HARRY AHMED?

AFTER SOME TIME AWAY FROM LOCAL RETAILING, GREENOCK NISA RETAILER HARRY AHMED GOTTHROWN IN AT THE DEEP END WHEN COVID-19 STRUCK JUST WEEKS AFTER HE OPENED HIS STORE.

HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN HARRY?

Stressful, but good!

TOUGH GOING BEING BACK IN LOCAL RETAILING?

Just a bit! My family have been in independent retailing forever, but we stepped back out of it for a while. We decided last year that we wanted to get back into it and were offered this new build store and, after surveying the area, we decided to go for it. We only got the keys in December and had to fully fit it out from bare walls. We’d only be opened for three weeks in March when the Covid-19 lockdown struck – so it hasn’t been exactly how we’d planned it.

BUT THE STORE IS DOING WELL?

It’s been very, very tough because it feels like we’ve been thrown in at the deep end, but we’ve coped with it and the store is doing really well. My staff have been absolutely brilliant too.

HOW WELL?

It’s a 1,500sq ft purpose-built store and our projections were that we would do around £14k a week – but within a fortnight we were already 50% over that. And sales have continued to grow over the last three months so, yes, it’s doing pretty well. It’s strange because we have nothing to compare it to. We don’t have historic sales figures for the store as it’s brand new and we’ve been out of convenience retailing for a while so we really didn’t know what to expect in terms of sales – but it’s fair to say we’re quite pleased so far.

WAS IT A RISK TAKING ON A BRAND-NEW STORE?

I know the area well and I did my research so I was always confident the store would be successful. I just didn’t expect it to be this successful this quickly – and that’s down to coronavirus and, of course, the community around me which has been so helpful and supportive. The community has really taken the store to their hearts and we appreciate their support so much. We’re offering them a great store with a great range and great pricing – we haven’t raised a single price because of the pandemic – but it’s been so rewarding to see how much the store means to our customers.

HOW WAS THE FIT OUT?

I’m absolutely delighted with how it’s turned out. I think the store looks fantastic and that’s what I’m hearing from customers and other retailers who have visited the store too. I used a friend of mine called Mark McPhee who has his own shopfitting business, Mardec Projects and he did the whole thing for me.

WHAT WERE YOUR KEY AIMS WHEN YOU OPENED THE STORE?

The store is in the heart of a large residential area, close to a high school, so we wanted to make sure our range offered something for everyone in the area. There’s a Domino’s and a Greggs next door but both have been shut since lockdown, other than for home delivery, so we’ve been lucky that way. We have focused on key categories so we’ve 10 metres of fresh and chilled, for instance, and we’ve added products like F’real milkshakes, Costa Coffee and Skwishee. The Co-op own label range has been huge for us too. It’s great quality and it’s priced well. Even with social distancing measure we’ve seen footfall grow and grow and we’ve got more new products and services in the pipeline.

SUCH AS?

We were due to get a Post Office earlier this year but that got postponed because of coronavirus. We’re probably looking at August now, but that will help with footfall and sales. We’re also in the process of launching a home delivery service with Snappy Shopper. That will probably be live in the next couple of weeks, so that should help grow sales too. And we’re also adding a big range of desserts in the near future so there’s plenty to keep our customers excited.

HOW DO YOU SEE IT PANNING OUT POST-CORONAVIRUS?

I don’t know, to be honest, but I don’t think we’ll return to the old normal. I don’t think independent retailers will see massively inflated sales forever but I think and hope that we’ll see elevated sales for a long time to come. I don’t think the world’s going to go back to the way it was before. All we can do is our best and, for the time being, things are going well and I’m enjoying it. I think we can keep getting better.