Andrew Davidson is still doing good business from his shop at Lower Newtonards in Belfast, but now he is looking to take on more of a challenge.
"I've got my eye on another bigger shop that's got the National Lottery and it's closer to home, but it all depends on the price and what I can sell mine for," he says.
But he admits it would be a wrench to leave his current premises because he has such a good rapport with his customers. "Mine is what I'd call a community shop," he says. "I had a rep in this morning and while he was here about 25 customers came in and he remarked that I knew the name of every one of them."
Northern Ireland has shared the sweltering summer seen recently in the rest of the UK, and this, combined with the bank holiday in the province on Monday (July 14) has helped to keep business brisk.
"We were particularly busy over the holiday," says Davidson, "but it being a holiday does mean I have to pay double wages, so it's swings and roundabouts."
Not surprisingly, ice creams and ice lollies have been big sellers, and he says he has cleared an "unbelievable volume of soft drinks". He has praise for a small delivered wholesaler, Elite, which, he says, has been doing some fantastic offers on soft drinks and crisps. He did stop using them for a while, after a mix-up over an order, but he says they seem to have overcome any problems now.
He says he likes to shop around for deals, adding: "That's the beauty of being an independent retailer. You are not tied to any one supplier." However, he is a regular at Musgrave's cash and carry depot five minutes down the road from his shop, going every day. One of the reasons for shopping so often, he says, is because he does not like to have too much cash tied up in tobacco at any one time, and big stocks in the shop would pose a security risk.
The talking point in Northern Ireland at the moment is the deal being finalised for Spar wholesaler John Henderson to take over J&J Haslett, which owns the Mace franchise and Holmes cash and carry.
Davidson says a lot of retailers are worried about a potential monopoly situation, but as an independent who uses Musgrave he says it won't make a lot of difference to him.
{{INDEPENDENTS }}
"I've got my eye on another bigger shop that's got the National Lottery and it's closer to home, but it all depends on the price and what I can sell mine for," he says.
But he admits it would be a wrench to leave his current premises because he has such a good rapport with his customers. "Mine is what I'd call a community shop," he says. "I had a rep in this morning and while he was here about 25 customers came in and he remarked that I knew the name of every one of them."
Northern Ireland has shared the sweltering summer seen recently in the rest of the UK, and this, combined with the bank holiday in the province on Monday (July 14) has helped to keep business brisk.
"We were particularly busy over the holiday," says Davidson, "but it being a holiday does mean I have to pay double wages, so it's swings and roundabouts."
Not surprisingly, ice creams and ice lollies have been big sellers, and he says he has cleared an "unbelievable volume of soft drinks". He has praise for a small delivered wholesaler, Elite, which, he says, has been doing some fantastic offers on soft drinks and crisps. He did stop using them for a while, after a mix-up over an order, but he says they seem to have overcome any problems now.
He says he likes to shop around for deals, adding: "That's the beauty of being an independent retailer. You are not tied to any one supplier." However, he is a regular at Musgrave's cash and carry depot five minutes down the road from his shop, going every day. One of the reasons for shopping so often, he says, is because he does not like to have too much cash tied up in tobacco at any one time, and big stocks in the shop would pose a security risk.
The talking point in Northern Ireland at the moment is the deal being finalised for Spar wholesaler John Henderson to take over J&J Haslett, which owns the Mace franchise and Holmes cash and carry.
Davidson says a lot of retailers are worried about a potential monopoly situation, but as an independent who uses Musgrave he says it won't make a lot of difference to him.
{{INDEPENDENTS }}
No comments yet