Setting up shop in a former pub in Bellshill, Daniall Nadeem reckons his new store is well equipped to be a hit with the community
TEN years is a long time for a unit to sit empty but that’s just what happened to a former pub site on Motherwell Road, Bellshill, before Daniall Nadeem stepped in.
After selling his previous store in Drumchapel, Daniall’s hunt for a new shop lead him across the path of retailer Omar Nasir whose portfolio of properties included the vacant Motherwell Road pub, a site he had been unable to get off the ground due to hurdles laid down by the local authority.
However, things were set to change when Daniall and Omar got together, thanks to some clever thinking which created the opportunity to finally gain approval from North Lanarkshire’s licensing board.
“The store has been lying vacant for 10 years, to get it open what we had to do was buy the Shopsmart down the road,” said Daniall.
“Then, we started work here and applied to transfer the alcohol licence over. We’ve had to surrender our Shopsmart licence because otherwise we would get done for overprovision so we’re shutting that store down.”
Now, following an extensive refurbishment which saw the unit’s interior completely stripped away and reimagined, the site is home to a smart looking Nisa store, a development which Daniall said excited locals as soon as work began.
It’s been no small job to transform the former pub into a modern convenience store, but working with the team at shopfitters Vertex, the refurbishment was carried out swiftly as Daniall explained in the run up to launching the store.
“We started fitting it out three weeks ago. The unit was stripped bare. What we did was take the job of the inside and Omar took the job outside. Omar was responsible for the car park, delivery bay etc. We were responsible for fitting the shop out. So we stripped everything back to bare walls, got Vertex in and they’ve knocked this out in two weeks.”
Before even entering Daniall’s new store, it’s easy to see why the local community is excited; from the store’s car park to its sizeable windows, Nisa Motherwell road has the feel of a small supermarket, and an offer to match.
Daniall hasn’t been shy about jumping into the latest convenience trends with both feet. The new Nisa store is equipped with ample chiller provisions to be stocked with soft drinks, fresh produce, dairy and frozen, a major food to go offer and an off-sales area that attracts attention through some clever design.
And while it’s tough to get everything right when opening a store, Daniall reckons trading from the nearby Shopsmart has given him the customer knowledge he needs to hit the ground running.
Stone Willy is based down south and a lot of their menu is for that market. But we’re one of the first stores that will be trying their new Scottish breakfast options.
“With the Shopsmart were just trying to get the customer used to us, get us used to the customer, and see what their spending habits are like.
“So when we came here with Nisa they were making suggestions of what to do but we could say ‘look, we know the customer. Don’t do this, don’t do that.’ That’s the benefit of having had that store.”
One piece of local knowledge that Daniall has picked up is the lack of food to go provisions in the area, which has lead him to go large on the growing category in his store.
“I wanted to bring something different to the store. We’ve got a few stores around here and I’ve obviously gone to see what they are doing but they’ve got kind of standard stores,” he said.
Just about every food to go box that can be ticked has been ticked at Nisa Motherwell Road. The store has been kitted out with a Stone Willy franchise, a Tango Ice Blast machine, ice cream parlour, and a cake counter with treats sourced from Stuarts of Buckhaven, Aulds and Cakes by Rebecca.
The Stone Willy franchise in particular is a point of difference that Daniall has high hopes for.
Since its first franchise opened in Scotland in 2017, Stone Willy has mostly expanded its footprint through the forecourt sector, but Daniall reckons the offer of pizzas and wraps will go well with his customers – especially as the firm is now introducing some more localised menu options.
“Stone Willy is based down south and a lot of their menu is for that market. But we’re one of the first stores that will be trying their new Scottish breakfast options,” said Daniall.
“It’s Scottish breakfast stuff like rolls and sausage, rolls and bacon. We had to look at our demographic, what kind of customer we’ve got and then try and pull them in every way possible.
I think people associate Co-op with good things. Good customer service, better quality shopping and better quality products. The Co-op name will bring in quite a lot of people.
“Stone Willy has got pizzas, wraps, protein shakes, toasties, burgers, but nobody is going to come in the morning for a wrap or a pizza.”
To capture the morning crowd, Daniall reckons his Stone Willy Scottish offer can work in tandem with his Costa coffee-to-go machine, giving the retailer options for morning meal deals and loyalty schemes.
‘The way I’m imagining it is a customer will come in the morning, grab their energy drinks, grab their rolls, grab their papers. So what I’ve tried to do is work with Stone Willy so that if someone was to come in maybe for a soup or a roll and sausage with a coffee we can get some deals going,” he said.
Local tastes aren’t limited to the Stone Willy counter either, Daniall has also sourced his ice cream from Equi’s Ice Cream based in nearby Hamilton.
Food to go isn’t the only area where Daniall has embraced the latest trends in convenience, it’s also clear to see from the cigarette gantry and e-liquids display.
Daniall has gone large on e-cigarettes with a large Liberty Flights display and for his tobacco offer, the retailer opted not to install a traditional cigarette gantry. Daniall has instead installed a Navarra dispenser that is fronted with screens that the retailer can use to promote his offer in store.
Digital advertising looks set to be a serious marketing tool at Nisa Motherwell Road, as Daniall has teamed up with Hi Street Digital Media after meeting the firm at the Nisa conference earlier this year.
“Digital screen wise, I’ve got a digital screen in the shop’s front window. What Hi Street Digital do is they fire on their own promotions and Nisa gets 25%. So they contact Nisa and ask ‘what offers are your stores running?’ and they put them on the screen.
“The only catch really is that whatever they’re promoting on the screen we need to stock in store,” he said.
Besides looking smart, the hi-tech gantry has a variety of features that Daniall reckons make it worth the investment.
“With the Navarra, the cigarettes are stored inside. When you open it up you’ve got shoots upon shoots, so you just fill it up and it’s all programmed to the till. You have a hot button on the till and the cigarettes come out straight away. You don’t even need to scan the pack, the barcodes are in the system.
“It’s all about maintaining eye contact with the customer. With this, the only time you need to turn your back is to pick up the cigarettes.”
A few feet away from Daniall’s cigarette gantry is the store’s alcohol area, a space that caused him some headaches with the council but that now looks like it was worth the hassle.
The 16 week wait on approval from the licencing board might have been difficult to bear, but the resulting off-sales offer is an easy one to shop, with ample chillers, ambient shelving and an eye-catching vinyl on the wall that’s visible from the front door.
A floor to ceiling image of a barrel by the side of the chillers acts as an effective signpost for the area, an idea which Daniall thought up from the store after seeing it used effectively by the multiples.
“This was one of my touches. The barrel on the wall was just to kind of break things up. You usually see this sort of thing in Co-ops, they’ll have a big red tomato on the wall or something like that.
“We’ve also got a brick effect too. A lot of the inspiration came from the Nisa conference in Stoneleigh,” he said.
Nisa compared supplier prices and The Co-op were cheaper on 10,000 lines. If we’re buying things in cheaper we’re obviously making more, but we can also put better offers on.
Daniall’s barrel vinyl won’t be the only part of his shop that wouldn’t look out of place in a Co-op either, as the store has opened its doors shortly before Nisa retailers gain access to a selection of SKUs from its new parent company.
The Co-op acquisition might not have won over all Nisa retailers, but Daniall is excited about the opportunities the deal offers.
“I’m just excited for The Co-op to come in and do their thing,” he said.
“I’m excited about it because of The Co-op name. When someone sees Co-op they associate it with quality. I tried my hardest to get something Co-op on the sign because if you see a Nisa open and you see a Co-op open then people go to The Co-op.
“I think people associate it with good things. Good customer service, better quality shopping and better quality products. The Co-op name will bring in quite a lot of people.”
An extended range is something Daniall looks forward to, although he did suggest the products that will be on offer to Nisa retailers could potentially be improved.
“The only thing I’m worried about is The Co-op are only giving us 150 of the best-selling lines. I’d rather they went and broke it down in categories. Like, ‘here’s pizzas, here’s milk, or here’s cheese’, but what they’ve done is say ‘here are the 150 best-sellers nationwide.”
It’s not just The Co-op’s own-brand range that Daniall looks forward to. In the context of Tesco and Booker merging and the proposed merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda, Daniall said he is also excited by the improved buying power Nisa retailers should now have access to.
“That’s another thing with Co-op, Nisa compared their supplier prices and The Co-op were cheaper on 10,000 lines. So if we’re buying things in cheaper we’re obviously making more, but at the same time we can also put better offers on, we can sell it for cheaper.
“That’s one of the best things I’ve seen from The Co-op as well.”
Improved buying power and a host of new lines is something Daniall is definitely looking forward to, but he’s also excited about some new additions to the store’s exterior that should be coming soon.
Daniall said he will be installing a Revolution 24 hour outdoor washing machine to the rear of his car park, and he is currently working with the council to try and create an access point alongside this that would lead into the housing estate to the rear of the store.
And while Daniall admits working with the council has been a challenge thus far, whether local planners decide to grant the access point or not, the buzz in the community suggests the retailer will not need to worry too much about footfall.
“Every person that has come by since we started working has said ‘I’m so glad something is happening here’. ” he said.
