‘Grocery barn’ move from Dingwall P.

Press, 1 October 1983, Page 20

‘Grocery barn’ move from Dingwall P.

There has been a change in the grocery marketing strategy of Dingwall and Paulger, Ltd, shareholders at yesterday’s annual meeting were told. A director, Mr J. W. Paulger, said that the company was changing from an ordinary grocery discounter into the grocery barn concept. “We are changing our small Keystores (Dingwall and Paulger’s grocery trade-name) into bigger

barn shops to meet our competition.”

This has happened at Hornby and the increases in turnover compensated for the loss of three or four small shops, he said.

There were no redundancies. All the staff of the shops were absorbed into other avenues.

The chairman, Mr A. A. Dingwall, said one or two more shops might close next year, but the rationalisation

would be of long-term benefit in other ways. The managing director, Mr T. P. Turton, said after the meeting that not all the shops closed during the year were the result of economic decisions. In the case of the closure of a Riccarton Road Keystore the lease had expired on the property, and the owner required the premises for something else.

The company already had two “Havmor” grocery barns, and the plans for another one would be announced on Monday, he said. Mr Dingwall told the meeting that the current year would be a static one for trading when compared with last year. There would not be very much variation in trading compared with last year because of the wage and prices freeze and the control on currency, which would give no lift to the. economy.

“We will be doing well if we can perform as well in the current year as we did last year,” he said. The decision on the discounting of the “30 topsellers” in the Keystores grocery items was a commercial one in relation to competition. The concept had worked because some shops not only held their turnover but in some instances their sales had increased.