‘Renewed buzz’ at award-winning Thurso family convenience store
Owners and staff at a family-run convenience store in Thurso have entered 2025 with a “renewed buzz” after winning a national award.
D&M Fraser, in Castlegreen Road, was named Best New Store of the Year in the Scottish Grocer Awards at the end of 2024 following a major refurbishment.
Margaret and Douglas Fraser bought the store in 1980 but the transformation last year was on such a scale that it qualified for the “new store” category.
Their daughter Lesley Mill, a director, has been in the business since 2013. She and Douglas attended the awards ceremony in Glasgow, hosted by actress and comedian Elaine C Smith.
Lesley explained: “After the refurbishment, the shop qualified for the Best New Store section of the Scottish Grocer Awards.
“Given the huge change, and the fact it looks like a new shop, the judges felt it belonged in that category. We were delighted to win.”
Only two tickets were allocated to D&M Fraser for the awards, so at the end of December the whole team celebrated with a night out at the Manor House in Thurso.
Lesley said: “2024 gave us all a real renewed buzz about the shop. Now that we have a ‘food to go’ area and new cake cabinet well and truly bedded in, we are looking at how we can further meet our customers’ needs and support local suppliers.
“We are also working with our existing suppliers who are all keen to support us with new and different products.
“We have purchased the garage area at the back of the shop which also allows better parking for our customers.”
At the grand opening of the new-look shop last March, a £1000 cheque was presented to Thurso Community Café.
Lesley said at the time: “The last refurbishment was in 2006 and we felt it was time to reinvest and improve what we have to offer.”
