A new grocery shop aimed at catering for people of various nationalities is set to open in Dundee city centre.
Yusuf Bolaji Usman and his wife Arlene, from Forfar, came up with the idea to open Universal Supermarket during lockdown.
They plan on selling foods used by different cultures around the world at the Panmure Street outlet.
Originally from Nigeria, Yusuf says he has struggled to source food from his home country while living in Scotland – often having to travel as far afield as London to pick up specialist ingredients.
The store opens to the public on November 14, in a unit previously occupied by a women’s clothes shop.
Yusuf said: “It all started during lockdown – for me, it was really hard to get my home kind of food.
“I was always having to travel down to London or other cities to get food and I would have to buy so much more that I didn’t end up using.
“I looked at the whole community in Dundee and thought, there’s so many international people here: Asians, Ukrainian, Polish.
‘There isn’t something that caters for everyone’
“I looked at the whole city centre and thought there wasn’t something that catered to everyone, there’s bits and bobs but nothing that actually goes deeper.
“I said to my wife that we have to create something, so that’s where the idea came about.”
Universal Supermarket will specialise in fresh exotic vegetables and ingredients used by different cultures, which will be transported to the store from food markets in London and Glasgow.
The shop will also offer regular essentials and frozen food.
A butchers section offering fresh halal meat is also planned in the coming months.
Yusuf previously worked for Forfar manufacturing firm Access XL but has left his job to launch the store.
Arlene is a senior staff member at a care home and plans to go full-time at the shop once the business takes off.
Universal Supermarket feels impact of rising bills
Despite the cost of living crisis that has claimed several businesses this year, Yusuf is optimistic – though he has already felt the impact of rising bills.
He said: “The energy crisis is really affecting us already.
“We’ve not even started trading and it’s already costing us so much – we’ve had to pay at least £2,000 on energy bills already in just two weeks.
For most businesses it can be tough in the beginning but we’re 100% positive”
“It’s always a bit unsure in the beginning, it stems from the fact that you’re buying the site and you don’t know if it’s going to take off.
“But because of the location and the fact we have so much diversity in the town centre. we hope we can break the barrier for that.
“For most businesses it can be tough in the beginning but we’re 100% positive.
“It’s not just about profit-making, it’s about customer service – if we can create a good customer base we’re going to be alright.”
Conversation