A small crowd of around thirty people had gathered at the doors to witness the opening ceremony, which was performed by longest serving employee Joan Massie, store manager Neil Thomson and managing director Gordon Emslie.

The transition from Somerfield to Haldanes was made in the wake of Somerfield's merger with the Co-op, and competition rules which limit the number of stores one chain can own in any given town.
The Co-op agreed with the Office of Fair Trading to offload 133 stores across Britain, and Haldanes is looking to be a major beneficiary of this shake up.

The store had been closed for a few days to restock the shelves and change the store's signage.

Managing director Gordon Emslie told the Times, "What we're aiming to do is offer the people of Ellon an alternative. We're looking to supply as much of our produce as possible from local sources - if we can buy it locally, then we will stock it.

"We're also hoping to consult with our customers to find out what it is that they want to buy. If enough people want something that we don't have, they just have to tell us, and we'll stock it for them."
"Our ethos is strongly local: we're trying to recapture the things that made Willy Low such a great place to shop. Local produce, friendly service, and customer responsiveness. We're really looking to engage with our community.

"It's about competing sensibly", said Mr. Emslie. "Where we can compete, we will do so, and we hope that by offering customers an alternative choice, we will be providing a service which the bigger supermarkets aren't.

"There's a gap in the market for a medium sized grocery retailer which focusses on local produce, and that's what we're looking to fill. Graeme Hay, our chief executive officer, is from Ellon, and my wife is from Inverurie, so we do have strong links to the area."
William Low was a popular Dundee-based chain of supermarkets in the early 1990s noted for strong local links. It was eventually taken over by Tesco in 1994.

However, the crowd who had come from as far away as Auchnagatt and Newburgh, was curious to see what the new shop had to offer, but some were sceptical about the prospects of competition with Tesco - sceptical that any shop - large or small - could compete with the larger supermarket chains, and bemoaned the loss of local shops.

Haldanes have 10 shops already open, and are aiming to have 26 by April 20 across the whole of the UK. The company's website states that each store will aim to source a third of its produce from local producers, with the balance supplied by Nisa and Total Produce.

The company has pledged to retain the jobs of employees who had formerly been employed by Somerfield and the Co-op, and will employ 1,000 people from Wick to Essex by the end of April.