About Us

Universal supermarket aimed at catering for people of various nationalities opened in Dundee city centre in 2022. Yusuf Bolaji Usman and his wife Arlene Usman, from Forfar, came up with the idea to open Universal Supermarket during lockdown. They planned on selling foods used by different cultures around the world at the Panmure Street outlet. Originally from Nigeria, Yusuf had struggled to source food from his home country while living in Scotland – often having to travel as far afield as London to pick up specialist ingredients. The store opened to the public on November 14 2022, .It all started during lockdown – for me, it was really hard to get my home kind of food.“I was always having to travel down to London or other cities to get food and I would have to buy so much more that I didn’t end up not using. “We looked at the whole community in Dundee and thought, there’s so many international people here: Asians, Ukrainian, Polish, Afro-Caribbean, Filipino, Vietnamese “We looked at the whole city centre and thought there wasn’t something that catered for everyone, there’s bits and bobs but nothing that actually goes deeper. “I said to my wife that we have to create something, so that’s where the idea came about.”Universal Supermarket specialises in fresh exotic vegetables and ingredients used by different cultures, which is transported to the store from food markets in and around the UK. A butchers section offering fresh halal meat is progressing well. Yusuf previously worked for Forfar manufacturing firm Access XL but left his job to launch the store with his wife. Arlene was a senior staff member at a care home and retired from the care sector to go full-time in the shop . He said: “The energy crisis really affected us in the beginning. The cost of everything was much – we had to pay at least £2,000 on energy bills just two weeks into opening. For most businesses it can be tough in the beginning but we’re 100% positive” “There was some uncertainties, which stemed from the fact we were buying the site and we didn’t know if it was going to take off. “But because of the location and the fact we had so much diversity in the town centre. we broke the barrier in that aspect. “For most businesses it can be tough in the beginning but we were 100% positive. “It’s not just about profit-making, it’s about customer service – if we can create a good customer base we’re going to be alright.”
Since we opened in 2022 the Business has grown beyond our expectations. We have expanded to the extent that extra Staff are required. My wife and I can now move to the next level of our Business by opening this website to create a more positive and effective shopping experience. We aim to please by going that extra mile to provide the most needed resources and develop a good relationship with our customers where loyalty can be retained.