A leading Nisa retailer is leaving for One Stop after being “let down” by the buying group.
Wilson Retail has eight stores in Scarborough and Hull and has been operating with Nisa for more than nine years.
Co-owner Danny Wilson told The Grocer he had decided to leave because he was unhappy with how a co-investment arrangement to launch a store had worked out. Nisa had offered a year’s advance of earnings as part of the arrangement, Wilson said, but the funds did not arrive.
“We never asked for the money from Nisa - that money was offered to us,” said Wilson. “We paid for everything up front expecting to get it back and when we didn’t it made things a lot tighter than they should’ve been. The whole thing was very awkward. We felt let down and it led us to look at other options.”
The retailer aims to have all stores moved from Nisa and refitted by Christmas 2015, with co-investment from One Stop. “Their co-investment means we’ll be able to improve every one of our shops,” said Wilson.
But Nisa business unit director Nigel Grey told The Grocer: “Throughout Wilson Retail’s time as a member of Nisa, we continued to offer full financial support, guidance and assistance to help the business through some difficult times.”
In June, Nisa recorded a £3m loss for the year to April 2015 for the first time in its history. Overall turnover for the business fell from £1.6bn to £1.4bn.
The week after revealing the loss, Nisa introduced a series of measures to kick-start the recovery plan, including increasing prices, the suspension of some member rebates and reducing the leaflet subsidy.
“Nisa is asking for support from its members, but it wasn’t the members who put them in this position,” said Wilson.
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