Bringing coastal customers a unique selection
PREMIER Dunbar has recorded a strong set of sales results since its opening in mid-November.
Located on the high street of the coastal town, Premier Dunbar has been a proven hit with local customers after the store recorded exceeded longer term sales expectation during the first couple of weeks.
The store offers a truly unique offer for the location, complete with the expected hallmarks that come with Premier including its Beer Cave concept, Refresh Station as well as its Soft Drinks Cave concept, that has been emerging across Scotland.
But beyond this, the store owner’s influence can be seen from the second you enter the store. Store owner Shiva has brought his own history and knowledge to this store, to great benefit for the local area.
Before opening Premier Dunbar, Shiva has been running Haddington Wine and Whiskies for some time, and his knowledge from running this store has moved to the Dunbar location, with an expansive wine selection in the store making this a truly unique addition to Premier’s portfolio of stores.
Shiva said: “This used to be a hardware shop before we took this on, so it’s a completely different store to what customers were used to now. When we initially took this on, I was looking at making this a cheese and wine shop.
“But it was my wife, Shanti, who suggested that we go to Booker and turn this into a Premier store for the area and so, we got the team down to look at the location and straight away they knew the potential this store had as a Premier.
“We both then came up with a vision for this store and now, I would say we stand in a world-class store.”
The massive store makes perfect use of its expansive range and to great success as well. In the two weeks since opening, Shiva and his wife Shanti have both had their work cut out for them to stay on top of stock with the pair making a fourth order for the American candy range alone.
And the store’s Praveen Kumar range of Indian dishes has taken off as well, with around 3,000 to 4,000 units of this alone moving through the store every week.
This has been an important part of the store as well as Shiva emphasised the importance of finding quality, local brands that the store can champion.
He said: “We’ve played a big emphasis on local produce and wanted to stock products that customers have a lot of attachment to. So, we’ve kept in local items from East Lothian including ice creams, ciders and chocolate.”
And it’s this local produce that could really have a chance to shine further at the store as time goes on, as Shiva announced plans to host tasting events for the local community at his store.
Shiva said: “The plan for now is that, every Friday we will host a tasting event of some kind and we think this will be ideal during the run up to Christmas.
“So between now and Christmas, we have already marked in wine tasting for every Friday. We have wine makers coming into the store, cider makers as well, and we also have Tempest Brewing coming in as well.”
Despite only opening a few short weeks ago, there is plenty in store for Premier Dunbar to be excited about.
Barry Forbes, retail development controller Scotland at Booker Wholesale, said: “It is fantastic that both Shiva and Shanti have joined the Premier family in Scotland. The store has embraced so much of our Premier concepts including elements such as the Bakery and Refresh sections, as well as our Beer and Soft Drinks Caves concepts.
“The feedback from consumers in the initial weeks has been outstanding, with claims the store offers many points of difference in comparison to the local market.
“This is just the start of the journey, and we will continue to support the store as time goes on.”
