Owner of TikTok famous Ron's Quality Snax speaks about retirement
The 74-year-old chef is now preparing to retire and sell the well-known business, located on Albion Way, due to suffering from arthritis.
Ron McClure with colleagues, Gillies McClure (Ron's son) and Claire Rankin. (Image: Colin Mearns)
However, Ron revealed that he doesn't want to give up his job, but he 'doesn't have a choice'.
Ron said: 'I'm sad to say I need to give it up. I don't want to, but I don't have a choice. The problem is caused by arthritis.
'I'm alright, but my hands are my tools. I've been a chef for 60 years altogether, and my hands are now very painful and sore.
'There's no cure, but it's just one of those things you get with old age. If I could've carried on, I would have carried on until I was 90 or 100.
'I love it and I have a passion for it. I can't do any more wrapping, tapping, and making it happen. I'm going to miss it dearly.'
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(Image: Colin Mearns)
Despite opening the business on July 1, 1991, Ron first shot to internet fame in 2023 after uploading a cooking video to TikTok.
The social media star explained that it had been his grandson's idea to bring Ron's Quality Snax onto the global platform.
(Image: Colin Mearns)
Ron added: 'I'm not a technophobe, but I'm rubbish with technology. I was surprised by the way TikTok took off.
'I didn't know how to do it, and my grandson knows, so he said, 'I'll show you papa'. We closed at 1pm that Saturday, we'd cleaned up, and the customers were all away.
'I cooked something, and then he put it on TikTok. My phone was dinging like mad all day. By 5pm on Saturday night, it had half a million views.
'On Sunday morning, it was over one million; it just went viral. My business had suffered greatly during COVID, and TikTok, my goodness, it helped it go up and up.
'It made a difference.'
More than two years later, Ron has gained 75,000 followers on TikTok and has amassed 1.2million likes across his videos.
He also created a line of merchandise featuring baseball caps and aprons with his branding.
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(Image: Colin Mearns)
Hundreds of these were shipped all over the world, including Saudi Arabia and America.
Ron told the Glasgow Times he has had customers visit from places including Australia, Texas, Manchester, and London.
Just six months ago, he says, two customers from Aberdeen hired a van to come down and visit the popular snack bar.
Before opening Ron's Quality Snax, Ron worked in various restaurants, hotels, and even catered for the Queen.
(Image: Colin Mearns) He said: 'I started my first job as a commis chef in 1966 in a restaurant in Glasgow. I cooked for some of the Rangers players at the time; that's my claim to fame.
'I later joined the Merchant Navy as a commis chef. I left after about two years, as I met my wife and got married.
'I did catering for the Queen in 1986. Then I was the manager of Buck Rodgers, a sci-fi themed restaurant on Queen Street.
'I opened a restaurant in Bathgate called Chef's Kitchen, and the last thing I did before this was I was the operations manager for Dunkin' Donuts.
'Then I was made redundant, and I decided to open up Ron's Quality Snax. The journey has been good.
'There have been ups and downs, but the business grew and grew. I've got good staff. All seven members have been with me for a long time.
'My staff stay because I look after them and give them respect, and we all give the customers respect, that's very important.
'It's the end of an era, and I don't know what I'm going to do.'
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