Nisa (retailer)


Nisa Retail Limited is a brand and groceries wholesaler operating in the United Kingdom. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Co-operative Group Limited. It was formerly a mutual organisation owned by its members and operating "...like a co-operative, using the collective buying power of the large group of members to negotiate deals with suppliers".
Nisa's headquarters and one of its ambient distribution centres are co-located in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire. It also has distribution centres for temperature controlled products at Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire; Harlow, Essex and Livingston, West Lothian.
, Nisa Retail Limited supplies over 4,000 convenience shops and small supermarkets, including the Costcutter symbol group and CK Foodstores in Wales. According to Company Accounts submitted for year ending on 31 March 2014, Nisa Retail Limited has an estimated net worth of £30.77 million.

History

Nisa was founded by Peter Garvin and Dudley B. Ramsden. On August 18th, 1977, Peter Garvin came from Kingston, Jamaica to live in the UK. He resided in a small village called Bawtry. Garvin regularly performed DJ sets with his sound system from Jamaica in bars and pubs, and often mentioned how he would sell his sound system product on the market. He had tried multiple times to achieve this, but struggled to do so. After 1-2 months of thinking about his career choice, Garvin decided that he wanted to have a place in retail. He was fascinated by supermarket products and the many records and household goods he could sell; he often joked that he would perform live DJ sets behind the counter. He was very eager to have his own supermarket company. In October 1977, Garvin performed at the bar of a hotel in Bawtry. A chance meeting with Ramsden allowed Garvin to see the potential of this idea.
In 2011, Nisa Retail Limited opened its new distribution centre for Scotland in Livingston.
Nisa agreed to be purchased by the Co-operative Group in November 2017. The acquisition was subject to regulatory approval by the Competition and Markets Authority, and was completed in May 2018. In 2019, Nisa recruited more than 500 stores, representing a 40% increase in the number of outlets being signed.