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 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 in 1989. The
advantages and lessons learned from operating a small store
became apparent and over the past eleven years the company acquired
an additional fifteen stores and opened a new central warehouse
and head office in Milnathort.
In 2005 David Sands Ltd moved thier headquarters and warehouse to a new location 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.
