Kinloch Rannoch Country Store: One Year In
28.01.10
The Country Store in Kinloch Rannoch has been under the ownership of Ron and Jane Dekker (pictured) since December 2008. Now a year into their venture they say that they have enjoyed every minute of it!
 “It has been a year of hard work, with steep learning curves but, if we believe the responses to our recent customer survey - and we do!- it has been more than worth it for us, but more importantly for our customers,” Jane reported to Comment.
Life Change Adventure
Taking up the story, Ron said: “Almost three years ago, we decided to drastically change our lives. Jane was working in international Human Resources for large multinationals and I owned a Graphic Design and Digital Photo Studio in Amsterdam.
“We wanted to find a business that we could run together, so we left everything behind in Holland and went ‘hunting’ in Scotland, a country we both really love. Initially our search focused on guesthouses, B&B’s and small hotels all over Scotland but, after a couple of failed attempts, we soon realised that finding the right one, in the right place, might take forever.”
To buy more time, the couple settled in Keith in Moray for a while with Jane working in Aberdeen and Ron for the Strathisla Distillery, a great pleasure being a keen whisky enthusiast.
“After many miles on the road, in snow or sunshine, and after many disappointing viewings, we broadened our search and started looking at alternative businesses ‘and the rest is history’ as they say,” Ron continued.
They stumbled across The Country Store and decided to rise to the challenge. The size, its location, possibilities etc appealed to them both and they arrived in December 2008.
“Much has changed since then with new chillers & freezers, new till systems, several changes in layout, a lick of paint here and there, but most of all full shelves again with a much wider range of products, fresher fruit & vegetables (delivered daily) at far more competitive prices.
Jane chipped in: “But we’re not there yet. This year, one of the things on the ‘to do’ list is to replace the floor and, if everything goes well, the next project will be The Post Office. From mid March onwards, we will offer the services every weekday from 9.30 am to 11.30 am.”
The couple added warmly: “Our thanks go to The Country Store team for its ongoing support and, of course, to all our customers.”
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