Scottish wholesaler CJ Lang has confirmed rural post offices in its Spar stores are no longer at risk of closure, although other branches could still be considered under review.
Speaking to RN last week following the release of its annual results, the firm confirmed the branches in 18 stores across Dumfries would remain open, backtracking on a previous decision. In 2021, the wholesaler delayed plans to axe the sites due to what it described as “challenging times”.
CJ Lang initially deemed the sites unprofitable, choosing to replace them with a renewed focus on food to go.
Non-executive chairman Jim Hepburn told RN: “We’ll continue them as long as we think there’s a need. I tend to make the point that our post office operations are unprofitable. Our view is they don’t attract the footfall.
“We keep them under review where they are in very remote locations.”
CJ Lang chief executive Colin McLean added: “We’ve still got post offices in remote locations where we recognise they are part of the community, but we will continue to put other post offices where we need to under review.”
Read more: CJ Lang announces financial growth as push to recruit more indies continues
However, Hepburn warned that adding in too many services can make things “difficult” for retailers, and said: “We’ve got to be careful that we don’t expand it so far, that we make it too complicated at the till point and customers get frustrated. Historically, we perhaps got in a bit of a muddle.”
McLean highlighted an improved food-to-go offer as a major strategy for Spar Scotland going forward, and said: “We can work very closely with local suppliers and local communities, and be far smarter than the supermarkets at the end of the day.
He said: “We source products from Scotland, which gives us a big advantage. In Dundee, we can be much closer to the supply chain than anyone else. We think that gives us a real competitive advantage.”
The results for the year ending 30 April 2023 revealed pre-tax profits had increased annually by 10.3% to £3.7m, while net turnover rose by 4.2% to £221.3m during the period.
CJ Lang said the results represented its fifth-year of growth in profitability.
Asked by RN to comment on CJ Lang’s statement, a Post Office spokesperson responded: “CJ Lang remains a valued partner of the Post Office and we fully recognise that in this difficult retail trading environment, it needs to keep its post office counters under review.
“We engage regularly with it over the remaining branches it operates. Our constant expansion of click & collect services with major carriers, combined with ongoing bank branch closures, is helping to drive footfall to our independent and retail partner branches, and we expect these footfall drivers into our post offices to continue.”
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