THE first fully refitted One Stop Franchise in Scotland opened its doors for business today (September 4), following an instant launch conversion in the centre of Glasgow.
Sam Ali’s store on George Street is in the heartland of Strathclyde University, with faculty buildings and halls of residence surrounding the city centre location.
Previously a Co-op, Sam bought the store in April this year and originally operated it under the Best One fascia, but took the decision to switch to One Stop following the convenience operator’s recent move into Scotland.
The sales area of 1,700 sq ft features the usual selection of chilled, frozen and ambient ranges, off-licence, a raft of regularly changing offers and One Stop’s meal deals.
In addition, a new food-to-go concept has been developed by Sam to appeal to a strong lunchtime trade. MIY – which stands for ‘Make it Yourself’ – allows customers to choose components separately and create their own product the way that they wish.
Sam was delighted to be the first rebranded One Stop franchise in Scotland, saying:
“This is a really ambitious project for us, but we know we’ve chosen the right retail partner to work with,” said Ali. “One Stop’s product ranges, regular promotions and the permanent offers on lunchtime and evening meal deals are ideal for our customer base.
“Add that to the simplicity they bring to running a store and it’s easy to see how they help independents grow and expand. We already have plans for an additional store and we’re looking forward to growing our business with One Stop.”
One Stop franchise director, Andrew King, said:
“It’s great to open our first fully branded franchise store in Scotland and have a ‘franchise in action’ to show to interested retailers.
Sam is a really progressive retailer and keen to develop both her George Street store and potential future sites – she’s a fantastic advert for One Stop.
“We’re really pleased with the interest we’ve had in Scotland; it’s been much greater than we anticipated. We’re set to unveil a further two franchise stores this month, closely followed by at least one more in October, whilst another nine stores are already at various stages in our process.”
The new ‘One Stop working with Sam Ali’ will open from 6am to 10pm on weekdays and from 7am to 10pm on weekends. It will hold its official launch day on Friday 18 September, to capitalise on fresher’s week, with a variety of special offers, discount coupons and prize draws.
