Nisa retailer unveils £260k refurbishment to Thurso store
SYMBOL group Nisa has reopened the doors to the Nisa Local store in Thurso following a £260,000 investment to help enhance the convenience offering to the local area.
Douglas Fraser, who has been a Nisa retailer since 1983, provided the investment to the store which reopened the doors again to the public in early March following a three week long shutdown.
The revamped store now boasts an impressive food-to-go section complete with hot bake & bite food options from Country Choice, Rollover hotdogs, Fwip ice cream and a new Skwishee machine offering frozen raspberry, mad mango and berrylicious flavours.
And a newly installed beer cave and chillers have opened up the raft of options now to the local community, helping the store to stand out among its competitors in the local area.
Lesley Mill, store director, said: “We had to think about what the next big opportunity is and, without a doubt, we’ve found it in the new food-to-go section.
“The reaction has been crazy from customers and we are getting the best part of £1,000 a day through the machines.
“We needed the store to be far more energy efficient so this was the perfect opportunity to go ahead with the refurbishment.
“The response from customers has been amazing. They think they’re in an upmarket Marks & Spencers or something like that!
“It is early days and there will be lessons to be learned but we are delighted with the early reaction.”
Bringing the community around into the store as well, the newly revamped Nisa Local boasts freshly made bakery products, sandwiches and pastries all sourced from local suppliers.
And early feedback from this local community has proven extremely positive, according to Nisa who has said that the average basket spend has now risen since the store reopened its doors.
Building further on its local support as well, the store has already been heavily involved in Nisa’s Making a Difference Locally charity and has donated over £15,000 to initiatives including the Thurso Community Café, Caithness Mental Health Support Group and Thurso High School.
Phil Knox, retail development manager at Nisa, said: “This has been a brilliant project to be involved with and full credit to Douglas and the team for the high standards this store now shows.
“The store is working with a host of suppliers both nationally and locally and I can’t wait to see where this store will progress to over the coming months.”
