Company History
"The Sands of Time"

Earliest records indicate that the business was founded by Joseph Hardie at the beginning of the nineteenth century. He was a prominent local businessman and founder of the Kinross Free Church. The business was passed to his nephew David Sands in 1846 who had trained as a grocer and in associated trades. The business prospered and upon his death in 1881, three of his sons took over, John, David & Joseph Hardie. The brothers did not get on and David Sands briefly emigrated to Brazil before returning to the family business in Kinross at the beginning of the twentieth century to take over the grocery part of the business. His son Davee Sands took over the business in the late 1920's.

During the twentieth century the store in Kinross has been transformed on numerous occasions. In the 1960's the store was converted to self service and a car park was added in 1966, a major innovation in those days. An additional outlet in Glenfarg was acquired along with several travelling shops. By the time Davee's son David Lindsay took over the business in 1966, retailing was changing rapidly. The store in Glenfarg along with the travelling shops were sold off. The store in Kinross was extended and fully modernised, pioneering late opening and seven day trading.

By the late 1980's the Kinross store was one of the busiest independent stores in Scotland, but the multiple store operators were always looking for new sites. Presto announced their intention to open a 10,000 sq ft superstore in Kinross, only 300 metres from the David Sands store, which eventually opened in October 1992.

In 1989 Lindsay's son David joined the business from Sainsbury's and a second outlet in Methilhill was acquired. The advantages and lessons learned from operating more than one store became apparent and the company has never looked back.

Over the past two decades the company has acquired 26 additional stores and a new central warehouse and head office (28,000 sq ft) in the Kinross Bridgend Industrial Estate .

David Sands Ltd is now recognised as being at the forefront of convenience retailing in Scotland and has ambitious expansion plans.