A former employee had the honour of officially re-opening Gulf Nairn Service Station on the Inverness Road in Nairn following its refurbishment.
The shop building is over 40 years old but now, thanks to just under £100,000-worth of investment from Certas Energy, the store has been brought up to date.
It boasts a new ceiling, flooring and energy-efficient lighting, with a bespoke counter to enhance the customer experience.
New, larger fridges have enabled the store to stock a wider variety of chilled products and the intuitive layout includes clearly defined zones for food to go, chilled food, alcohol and making a meal.
Kathleen Leghorn served the Nairn community as a customer service assistant at the Spar store for 26 years. Following her recent retirement, she was invited back to perform the ribbon cutting earlier this month.
The ceremony was followed by a day of celebrations for the local community. Shoppers were given the opportunity to sample new products, including Rollover hot dogs, and get free hot drinks and slushies. Customers also took home freebies including Cadbury chocolate, goodie bags and Gulf merchandise.
Some lucky shoppers won Spar vouchers and Fifo products in various prize draws that were run throughout the event.
Over the course of the day, the 10-strong Spar team welcomed almost 250 customers and gave away more than 180 free Costa Coffee drinks.
Sharon Ellen, who has been the store manager at Nairn Spar for the last nine years, said: “It was wonderful to welcome Kathleen back to re-open the newly transformed store. She was a much-loved employee and is still a familiar face in store as a customer, so she was the perfect person to officially unveil the renovated store.
“The re-opening day was a huge success! It was a great atmosphere. It had a wee party feel to it. Customers were delighted with their freebies and surprised at the variety of products we stocked.
“The Gulf site is at the heart of the community. Like myself, the whole team were raised in the local area. We’ve had lots of really positive feedback about the refit so far.”
