The sun shone as the Scotmid store in Old Mill Road, Uddingston opened its doors to local customer. It has undergone a complete transformation and was relaunched on Friday (24 May), but long-serving staff member Kate Connor insists one factor won’t change – the store’s friendly atmosphere.
Kate, 60, has worked in the store since February 1974 – starting as a fresh-faced 16-year-old – and admits she has seen some huge changes; both to the shop and the local area over the past four decades.
She said: “The local area and the store have both changed massively over the past 45 years, but the job is still the same – serving customers and getting on with my work-mates – and I really enjoy it; the atmosphere is always friendly.
“The new-look store looks amazing and I’m sure all our customers will really enjoy shopping here with all the improvements that have been made.
“It’s a different store altogether to the one that was here when I started 45 years ago – different parts have been rebuilt – but it has always been a good place to work.”
Kate was presented with a bouquet to celebrate her extraordinary length of service by Regional Business Manager Frank McCarron.
Scotmid’s Old Mill Road store has undergone a complete modernisation incorporating new state-of-the-art refrigeration cabinets run on CO2 refrigerant, the latest energy-saving technologies, as well as a new style counter arrangement which will include an expanded range of Food to Go products.
Plus there is an extended range of fresh food options, a new Costa coffee machine and a Slushee machine – designed to enhance all the customers’ shopping experiences.
When the doors reopened, hundreds of local people queued up and received ‘goodie’ bags.