Most retailers measure success by how much they sell. At Spar Alloa Road store in Stenhousemuir near Falkirk, success is measured by how much is given away for wider benefit of those in need.
That approach, unconventional as it sounds, has transformed a once-struggling site into a thriving, multi-layered retail business that continues to push boundaries.
Known for going far beyond their v and in the years since, retailer couple Asiyah and Jawad Javed are now setting new benchmarks in convenience retail.
Asiyah recently sat with Asian Trader to revisit her retail journey.
“I was born in retail. My parents had a shop, so I was always in the store as a small child. I even remember bagging loose potatoes when I could hardly see above the counter,” she said.
“The shop was attached to our house through a garage, so I was always in and out. Since childhood, I was only interested in shops and nothing else.”
Even when she later took a job at Tesco, she was still putting in shifts at her dad's post office and shop on the side.
When she and her husband Jawad, who had been working at Asda, decided to do start something of their own, the decision was straightforward.
The store they chose as their own in a small town of Stenhousemuir had been closed for two years and was considered, by most who knew it, an unlucky site.
Asiyah was unbothered. “Well, it proved lucky for us. This store has bought us so many accolades including Pride of Scotland last year and an in-person compliment from King Charles when we attended a Local Heroes event at Holyrood in 2024,” she said.
So, what made it work where others had failed?
“I strongly feel independent convenience stores of smaller sizes need to do something different to get customers in,” she said.
That “difference” is immediately visible on her shop floor.
The store has built a reputation for sourcing globally trending confectionery, often unavailable anywhere else locally.
“We buy confectionery from all around the world. And that makes a big difference,” Asiyah revealed.
“If there's something new, we get it, be it from the supplier or from another country. Like this KitKat fixture shipped directly from the UAE.”
A landmark moment in the Javed’s retail journey came in 2022 in the form of acquisition of Caledonian Cheesecake Company, which transformed the store into a dessert destination.
The company had been operating for around a decade in Grangemouth. After the acquisition, cheesecakes are now being made and sold from the couple's store. The store now has two kitchens in the store- one for the cakes and one for the food.
Three staff work in a cake kitchen and three in a hot food kitchen. The store also employs 10 drivers and eight people on the shop floor. Topping up the in-store sales is now home delivery. Through Snappy Shopper, the store has built what Asiyah describes as “another business under the same roof.”
And the numbers back that up.
In December last year, Spar Alloa Road smashed grocery delivery records after it generated £63,424 in online sales from 2,830 orders, acquiring 349 new customers during the month.
Throughout last year, Spar Alloa Road grew rapid home delivery sales by almost 120 per cent year-on-year, reaching £350,000 in annual delivery revenue, up from £160,000 in 2024.
With an average order value of £30 in December, delivery has shifted beyond top up shops, with many customers now ordering multiple times a week from Falkirk, Larbert, Stenhousemuir, Grangemouth, Camelon and Airth and deliveries reaching even hospital wards.
Apart from the unique range, store-made hot food and record-breaking delivery sales, community work continues to remain SPAR Alloa Road’s main highlight.
During Covid, as panic buying left vulnerable customers without essentials, Asiyah and Jawad stepped in to fill the gap.
Asiyah recalled, “I met an elderly woman who was really upset that she couldn't get find hand sanitizer and basic essentials. A simple conversation with her sparked a drive in me to make sure the vulnerable of my community remain protected and comfortable during the time.
“And that led to us creating and delivering care packages for those in need, which included masks and hand sanitiser for the elderly and infirm.”
The worst is now over, but the spirit to serve and help has never left Asiyah. She, along with Jawad, still gives out more than 100 food packages on a weekly basis to those in need.
"We work with the council closely to feed anyone who is struggling for food. I also work with local care homes and supply them with food on special occasions,” she informed.
It is this level of community work which drove couple to switch to SPAR two years ago, which is now their main supplier. Despite the brighter side, the couple is well attuned to the pressures bearing down on the convenience sector.
“January and February were hard for us. Our taxes and bills are very high; it should not be that much for a small business like ours,” she said.
Despite the challenges, Asiyah is already on new plans for her store.
“I do want to do something different, now more as a woman retailer. I'll be doing something or adding something new soon,” she said.
Having donated more than £100,000 of food and medical assistance to people in their community since the pandemic, Asiyah has truly come a long way from a little girl peaking above the counter, to a community figure in her own right, showing exactly what a determined retailer can build when she sets her heart on it.