The Scotmid Co-operative is building a state-of-the-art convenience store in Drumnadrochit to celebrate its 160th anniversary.
The society, set up in 1859 as St Cuthbert’s Co-operative, is Scotland’s largest independent co-op. Alongside its Scotmid stores, its businesses include the Lakes & Dales Co-operative, Semichem, Funeral Directors, post offices and a property division. With 350 retail outlets across Scotland, Northern Ireland and North of England, the co-op employs over 4,000 people.
The new 4,500 sq ft store will open in the New Year, as part of a five-unit complex beside Loch Ness. Scotmid wants to enhance customers’ shopping experience at the new store with a tailored architectural structure and spacious layout.
Head of property and development Maurissa Fergusson said: “We are extremely excited about our new Drumnadrochit store, which represents the future of Scotmid.
“In our anniversary year, this represents another milestone for us in providing convenience stores to match the demands of an ever-changing marketplace and the expectations of our valued members and customer base.”
Scotmid is also continuing the rollout of its remodelled stores. These have been unveiled earlier this year in Moredun, Bankton and Uddingston, with additional work planned for the Newtongrange store in November.
Energy efficiency remains a key priority for the society and the stores feature fully glass-fronted facades to maximise natural daylight, while electrical lighting comes entirely from LED fittings, which are over 50% more energy efficient than traditional systems. There are more energy savings from new refrigeration cabinets.
Scotmid has developed a 12-year strategy to comply with EU F-Gas regulations and meet the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. Refrigeration will be controlled by a central plant and run on a natural refrigerant (CO2) rather than polluting hydrofluorocarbons.
“The store design introduced at our stores in Moredun, Bankton, Uddingston and scheduled to be introduced Newtongrange has completely modernised our customers’ shopping experience and we believe these changes represent the beginning of the future for Scotmid,” said Ms Fergusson.
Scotmid will also continue to revamp its Kitchen stores and expand its the range of Food to Go products across its network of 180 food stores.
