OPINION

OPINION ON THIS FORTNIGHT’S HOT TOPICS

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SCOTLAND: Are you ready for DRS, despite industry concerns?

“WE still haven’t been told how much the machines are going to cost. A lot of retailers don’t have a clue what’s going on, and it’s February already. To prepare, I’m redesigning my foodto-go counter to ensure there’s no cross contamination from bottles.”

Ferhan Ashiq, Levenhall Village Store, Musselburgh, East Lothian

“WE still don’t know how long it will take until we get the deposit back. I’m concerned about the machine running costs, spillage from bottles and the emptying. The biggest headache is glass bottles – you can only get a sack half full or it’ll be too heavy. I’d like to see an aligned UK-wide system.”

Dennis Williams, Premier Broadway, Oxgangs, Edinburgh

MAGAZINES: What impact will DC Thomson’s title closures have?

“IT is a blow because the titles affected were good sellers and my range will be reduced. But it’s not as disastrous as losing some of the bigger sellers. I’ll keep focusing on my range and maximising my choice on popular topics like health and crafting.”

Mark Dudden, Albany Road News, Cardiff

“IT is a shame that there are more closures in the magazines category, and this will be a loss to stores’ profits. We will now have to make the money up elsewhere, and focus on recommending other titles for shoppers to buy as a substitute.”

David Lomas, Lomas News, Bury, Manchester

We’re doing about £600 to £800 a day

The

biggest headache is glass bottles

LOTTERY: How optimistic are you about Allwyn’s takeover next year?

“I’M hearing that Allwyn is looking to focus more on digital rather than physical shops. However, until Allwyn starts communicating their plans in more detail, and what their vision is, it is very much a wait and see situation.”

Anita Nye, Premier Eldred Drive Stores, Orpington, Kent

“WE haven’t received any information from Allwyn, or Camelot. I hope that Allwyn does things differently. But, we are still in the dark and it won’t be until there’s more information that we can know what things will look like.”

Serdar Akbay, Hoddesdon Food & Wine, Broxbourne, Herts

It will be a loss to stores’ profits

ENERGY: How regularly are customers redeeming their gov’t vouchers?

“WE’RE doing about £600 to £800 a day from about seven to eight customers. In the first and last week of each month we tend to get more customers when people receive them. They have a 90day expiry, so we’ve noticed that people hold onto them and use them all together.”

Muntazir Dipoti, Todmorden News, West Yorkshire

“WE have people come to do this regularly throughout the month. It seems as though most manage it around their pay day as the vouchers have a 90-day expiry on them. Customers are using them as a means of surviving.”

Aman Uppal, One Stop Mount Nod, Coventry, West Midlands

Managing the cost-of-living crisis

AFTER months of trying to absorb rising costs, it seems that everyone is now putting their prices up.

We’ve seen fresh items go up in price and I’ve just been informed by our fresh cakes supplier that their prices will be increased significantly in March. So far, they have been absorbing the costs themselves, but with the price of butter tripling over the past year or so, they’re now having to put prices up.