A Dundee pub and club owner is set to make his first move into convenience retailing after councillors approved plans to turn one of his premises into a store.
Jimmy Marr of Park Leisure, who owns Deja Vu nightclub, and several pubs in the city, said he was delighted to have been granted permission to turn Whitfield Labour Club into a c-store, despite planning officials saying it should be refused.
The social club, which has been empty for a year, will be turned into a store and a chip shop. The site might also have a post office.
A number of local residents supported the idea after Dundee City Council planning officers recommended refusal.
The officials said the development could hit trade at Whitfield Shopping Centre – which is due for demolition – and scare off new businesses from setting up at The Crescent, a council-owned shopping precinct.
However, after receiving a petition signed by 100 residents in favour of the plan, councillors on the planning committee voted to approve the proposal.
“It was really good that the local councillors listened to the people in their community and stood up against the civil servants,” said Marr, who hasn’t been involved in convenience stores, though his father opened a VG Stores outlet in 1966.
He added: “We’re now looking at two options – either to open a convenience store and run it ourselves or maybe just do it up and rent it out to another operator.”
