Following the announcement last autumn that award-winning Scottish firm, David Sands Group, was joining SPAR in Scotland, the three David’s Kitchen stores and Pinkie farm store in Musselburgh are now fully integrated into the SPAR family.
David’s Kitchen Ltd is a group of three stores in Glenrothes, Falkirk and Kirkcaldy, that focus on freshly made food, ready for immediate consumption, or to take home. Each David’s Kitchen store has its own kitchen, and as much as 40% of sales now come from freshly prepared products sold in the stores.
Pinkie Farm convenience store is located in Musselburgh and is a large store with a strong emphasis on fresh foods and kitchen products.
On moving to SPAR Scotland and wholesaler CJ Lang & Son Ltd, David Sands said: “Having the full support of the SPAR brand and the team at Dundee means we can offer our local shoppers a substantial range of products and great service. It is really important to us that we exceed the needs of our customers every day. It is also hugely beneficial to have the Dundee depot in such close proximity to us, as supplies into our stores are now much more reliable.
“The recent re-branding looks fantastic, and it is only the first step. We will be doing lots more with promotions and the range of fresh foods so we can remain ahead of the competition.
“Our partnership with SPAR Scotland and CJ Lang & Son Ltd is giving us the confidence to move our business forward. We are combining the best of David’s Kitchen and Pinkie Farm with the best of SPAR Scotland – a powerful combination.
“Our vision is to continue to develop our business not just for today but for future generations and SPAR Scotland is the only symbol group who can support us in our journey.”
Keith Fernie, the Managing Director of David’s Kitchen Ltd, expressed his satisfaction with the transition to SPAR. He described the process as relatively seamless and credited the CJ Lang team in Dundee for their exceptional support in swiftly resolving all issues. The range of products and pricing is good and the branding on stores looks great, it effectively incorporates the SPAR brand while preserving our own unique local identity.
“The jewel in the crown for us has been service. Deliveries and communication have been excellent, we have not had one cancelled delivery and as all retailers are aware, it’s all about getting stock, when we need it.”
CJ Lang & Son Ltd has been supplying all four stores with stock deliveries and in recent months has been working with the David Sands Group on the overall design, look and feel of the stores which are all now branded as SPAR Market stores. A huge amount of work has been done on store layouts and the overall product range available, including an increased range of SPAR own label products.
At Pinkie Farm, a new sub-brand, called Carla’s Kitchen, has been created and is incorporated into the instore food-to-go area and also features on the external store design.
Dan Brown, Managing Director of Pinkie Farm added; “The SPAR brand has been well received by our customers, and we have been impressed with the ranging and support available to us.
In transitioning across to SPAR, we have been able to maintain and grow a strong range of chill & fresh, and have benefitted from some great promotions and NPD. The store design team have done a great job in bringing all of our points of difference to life, and we look forward to building upon these further in the future.”
Brian Straiton, Independent Sales Director for CJ Lang & Son Ltd said: “We are really pleased to be working with David, Dan, Keith and their teams. We have worked closely with them on range development and the internal and external branding of all four stores to SPAR Market, whilst ensuring their local identity is retained throughout. We are looking forward to helping them grow their business and having a long partnership with one of the best Scottish independent retailers.”
David Sands is a family-owned, fifth-generation business that has over 200 years of grocery retailing in Scotland. Originally founded in 1812, the business has gone from strength to strength. The David’s Kitchen store brand was launched in 2013 and today the company has a total of four stores operating around Scotland, including the award-winning Pinkie Farm store in Musselburgh with plans to expand the estate in the future.
