Andrew Davidson is having a stressful time. He has been trying to complete the sale of his inner city shop in Belfast and the purchase of another in its leafy suburbs (The Grocer, August 16, p15).
But at criticial times his solicitor proves elusive. “It’s frustrating. We were supposed to complete today but I haven’t been able to get through,” he says. And then there are the customers “Yesterday I had a wee pensioner in the shop and she was in tears because I was leaving.” And that adds to the mixed feelings he has about moving on.
Although the new shop is bigger and far more convenient to travel to, he will miss the comfort that familiarity brings at Lower Newtonards. “I know everybody and everybody knows me.”
The new shop is in Comber, County Down, a leafy residential area seven miles out of Belfast, and Davidson admits it will be a “culture shock” after the inner-city area he serves with his current store. “But it’s twice the size and twice the turnover of my current shop and it has the lottery,” he says. In addition it’s in the village where he lives and his children attend the nearby primary school. At present he knows only a handful of the regulars who use the shop.
Davidson is planning improvements to the store but one thing he won’t be adding is a PayZone terminal, after the experience in his Belfast shop.
“The rate we get off that with electricity is diabolical. We make a little on the phonecards, but the electricity takes loads of time and effort, we collect £400 a day and make no profit.
“Here we are stuck with it. Everybody knows we do it and it’s a community shop, so it’s a service we have to provide. The new shop doesn’t have it and I certainly won’t be adding it.”
One thing Davidson will be returning to is Holmes Cash and Carry which delivers to his new store. He shopped there until the depot near his shop closed, so he took his business to Musgrave.
Even though his new store is much larger, Davidson has no plans to join a symbol group. He says: “I enjoy the freedom of being independent, and quite frankly I don’t think being a member of a group is worth the money.”
But at criticial times his solicitor proves elusive. “It’s frustrating. We were supposed to complete today but I haven’t been able to get through,” he says. And then there are the customers “Yesterday I had a wee pensioner in the shop and she was in tears because I was leaving.” And that adds to the mixed feelings he has about moving on.
Although the new shop is bigger and far more convenient to travel to, he will miss the comfort that familiarity brings at Lower Newtonards. “I know everybody and everybody knows me.”
The new shop is in Comber, County Down, a leafy residential area seven miles out of Belfast, and Davidson admits it will be a “culture shock” after the inner-city area he serves with his current store. “But it’s twice the size and twice the turnover of my current shop and it has the lottery,” he says. In addition it’s in the village where he lives and his children attend the nearby primary school. At present he knows only a handful of the regulars who use the shop.
Davidson is planning improvements to the store but one thing he won’t be adding is a PayZone terminal, after the experience in his Belfast shop.
“The rate we get off that with electricity is diabolical. We make a little on the phonecards, but the electricity takes loads of time and effort, we collect £400 a day and make no profit.
“Here we are stuck with it. Everybody knows we do it and it’s a community shop, so it’s a service we have to provide. The new shop doesn’t have it and I certainly won’t be adding it.”
One thing Davidson will be returning to is Holmes Cash and Carry which delivers to his new store. He shopped there until the depot near his shop closed, so he took his business to Musgrave.
Even though his new store is much larger, Davidson has no plans to join a symbol group. He says: “I enjoy the freedom of being independent, and quite frankly I don’t think being a member of a group is worth the money.”
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