Cawdor deli venture off to a great start
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A village store has just reopened under new owners – and with a brand new look.
The first week for the Cawdor Deli, a new venture for Nyomi Dixon who also owns the Whisk Away café in Inverness, provided a great start.
Former owners of the village stores Audrey and John Wallace – who had been running the village store for a decade – retired in October.
- Community says goodbye to Cawdor Village Store stalwarts
- Café and gift shop owners take over running of Cawdor Village Stores
Ms Dixon said she was delighted to meet the community.
“This first week was the most amazing experience,” she said. “The previous owners did an absolutely wonderful job with the store but we wanted to extend it and bring in something new to the venue.
“We have a deli and a café with produce which is sourced as locally as possible. The community relies so much on the convenience store we kept that alongside the deli and the café.
“This is such an important community hub and we are delighted with the response, it’s been really welcoming.”
The opening weekend saw a craft fair set up by Fox & Friends with several stalls offering a range of Christmas gift options.
Ms Dixon said she saw the new Cawdor Deli as an ideal opportunity to expand and future-proof her business which faces challenges in its current Inverness base – after moving premises from Baron Taylor’s Street to Queensgate in October 2022.
She said: “With everything that’s happening with Academy Street I feel as if Inverness is no longer as welcoming as it used to be for businesses.
“It will be a challenging winter and we’ll do our best to improve our footfall but having the deli in Cawdor makes me feel more secure for the future. “
However, she praised her team in Inverness for their support: “I have an amazing team who supported me going above and beyond. It allowed me to step back and focus on the new project in Cawdor. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without them.”
