Stenhousemuir shop wins Local Retailer Awards for confectionery and community work during pandemic

Jawad and Asiyah Javed were elated to learn Day-Today Express, in Alloa Road, had claimed the Confectionery Retailer of the Year and Community Retailer of the Year titles in this year’s Local Retailer Awards.

In September, the couple’s business was named as one of three winners in the Shop Local, Shop Little Heroes Awards, created by the Federation of Independent Retailers, for going above and beyond for vulnerable customers during the pandemic.

Their latest success was confirmed during an online ceremony held on October 27.

Asiyah said: “We knew we were nominated but we didn’t expect to win, especially not both awards.

“We’re very happy the judging panel chose us as the winners.

“The judging panel said we had a wide range of sweets and chocolate which no other shops have: from Bounty Pineapple and Mango and Twix Orange from Russia to Galaxy White Chocolate from Dubai and Cadbury Caramilk Flake from Australia.

“They chose us for the community award because of our community work: we still give out 50 to 100 food packages every week.

“It’s always different. Sometimes it’s maybe 40 or 50 packages, others it’s 100. Sometimes at the end of the month, when people don’t have any money, that’s when we see a lot more.

“We’ve been doing the community work all the time. If anybody’s struggling during Christmas, we’ll be helping them out.

“We’ll always be there for our community.”

Asiyah and her husband began taking note of customers’ needs at the onset of the pandemic, discovering hand wash, gel sanitiser and baby food supplies were running low everywhere.

They sourced and distributed these products for free, delivering more than 3000 Covid care packages to elderly and infirm customers.

As the pandemic progressed, people the need for face masks and food packages grew.

Again, the generous couple established a supplier for such items and quickly got them to where they were needed most, at no cost.

The Javeds will learn if they have been victorious in the Shop Local, Shop Little Heroes national awards in January 2022, when the overall winner will be announced.

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.

https://www.localsubsplus.co.uk/nord/dm/FKH/V