Traders welcome supermarket to town

Peter Swindon • Published 11 Aug 2009 14:44 Comments 1 Comment

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Morrisons opened in Cowdenbeath on Monday to a warm welcome from traders who saw their takings go up.

Business owners reported increased trade as hundreds of shoppers came to the town to visit the new supermarket.

Many believe the store will boost Cowdenbeath's ailing economy which has suffered the loss of Woolworths and several independent retailers in recent months.

Butcher, Tom Courts, said, "Good luck to Morrisons. I think it'll be great asset to the town. It'll bring more shoppers to Cowdenbeath. In fact, Monday was the busiest of the year of us so it's already benefited our business."

That optimism was echoed by the assistant manager of Stephen's Bakery, Louisa Plain, "We're waiting to see what happens but fingers crossed it'll bring more trade to the town," she said.

Manager of Bayne's, Linda Wilson, said takings were "neither up nor down" on Monday. "We were just as busy and I think we'll get busier when people realise that Cowdenbeath has a supermarket again," she added.

Somerfield, Cowdenbeath's only supermarket, shut up shop on 13th May, following a takeover by Morrisons.

The new store was opened at 9am on Monday by General Manager, Martin Terris, and long serving colleagues Mary Dowe, Sheila Bell and Mary Beverage.

Mr Terris said, "Over the past weeks, the team has been working night and day to ensure that customers enjoy shopping, Morrisons-style, from day one. Opening the doors and welcoming the shoppers of Cowdenbeath is the reward for all the training and preparation."

He added, "We've had an amazing response from customers, and they have been a pleasure to serve. I would like to thank them and my colleagues for making today such a success."

The store includes a new concept, named Market Street, a collection of individual fresh food shops, including a butcher, baker and fishmonger.

Local traders were confident that they could withstand the competition.

Tom Courts said, "Those that buy supermarket meat will continue to buy it but we're not worried - we have a loyal customer base from all over Fife that continues to grow. We're an award-winning business that's been established in Cowdenbeath for 42 years and we'll be here for many years to come."

Fellow butcher, James Noble, was also unconcerned, "We've been here since 1950. I started as a message boy working for my father who owned it before me. I'm 68 now and I'm not worried - not the way we handle our meat. We do it the old fashioned way - we bone it out as we need it. It's all fresh."

The town's bakers were also confident that the quality of their product will keep customers coming back.

Bayne's Linda Wilson said, "We've got quality products that people seem to like."

Louisa Plain of Stephen's added, "Our bakery is good and we have loyal customers."

But fishmonger George McKechnie, who opened his High Street shop six years ago, believes trade will dip. "It's not rocket science," he said, "we were the only fish sellers in Cowdenbeath until Monday. We've already been very quiet this week."

However he was confident that shoppers wil prefer his fish. "I think ours is fresher, and it's local - we get it just down the coast," he added.

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violet
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Aug 11, 19:37
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It is great to see that Morrison's has opened up in Cowdenbeath. The town was certainly needing a fresh injection of a retail business of stature.

There now appears to be talk of a new supermarket for Lochgelly.Here again is a town that needs a trading boost.I can only hope that developers look kindly towards a fresh retail initiative for Lochgelly similiar to Cowdenbeath.

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