TAKE a portion of long wholesaling experience, add more than a dash of award-winning retailing nous and mix it with a significant quantity of can’t -wait-to-get-started commercial energy.
It should be a recipe for shop success.
David Sands and his father Lindsay, who developed the David Sands chain of c-stores, which was sold a little over two years ago to The Co-operative, have teamed up with former Bellevue cash and carry owner George Benson and former regional manger for the Best-one symbol group Colin Smith to launch a large new shop in East Lothian.
Pinkie Farm Convenience Store, currently being built on the site of a former farm on the outskirts of Musselburgh, is scheduled to open in May.
Smith, who is managing director of the parent company Lothian Stores, will manage the new store and he and co-directors Benson and David and Lindsay Sands have all invested in the business.
The new 6,000 sq ft store will be supplied by Nisa and trade under the Pinkie name. An existing, adjacent Pinkie store, established in the 1960s as a traditional farm shop, will close when the new unit opens.
The current owner of the site has also recently sold land to a house builder and there are plans to create 460 homes in the area.
Smith is currently working with existing store owners Lynn Todd and Billy Mackenzie and their staff ahead of the changeover.
“All the staff are moving across into the new store and are integral to keeping Pinkie known for its service and community feel,” Smith said.
“The old Pinkie store will close and our new outlet will open the next morning. It will be a seamless changeover for customers with all 16 members of staff staying on and more being recruited locally.”
The new company will stress ‘Honest Local Value’, the partners say, providing fresh and chilled foods including meat from a local butcher, fresh fish and locally supplied fruit and vegetables.
Freshly prepared food-to-go lines will be available in the store and award-winning Dunfermline-based firm Stephens will provide an in-store bakery. There will also be a café, a free-to-use external ATM and a large car park. The shop will open 6am to 10pm, seven days a week.
