Although the threat of recession has many retailers worried that customers are choosing to save rather than spend, newly-minted shop owner Stewart Smith is already contemplating an expansion.

Glasgow-born Smith set up Angels' Share Whisky in Stirling less than five months ago after leaving a 21-year career in the restaurant industry.

Despite tough economic conditions, he hopes to open one or two further outlets within the next three years.

He admits that expansion hinges on progress at his new store, which has so far been trading pretty much in line with his expectations.

Smith is also reasonably relaxed about the prospect of slower consumer spending, which he believes will be "a relatively short-term situation".

His view might seem naïve to some, but Smith's confidence is founded on the substantial background work he undertook before striking out on his own. As a result, he now runs the only dedicated whisky shop in Stirling.

Smith started working in hotels and restaurants around Glasgow at the age of 18, and would eventually join local restaurateur Alan Tomkins as a manager at establishments such as Frango and Café Ostra.

However, after nearly two decades in the trade, Smith was beginning to crave something new.

"It got to the point that I had seen as much of this as I wanted to see," he said. "There wasn't really anything else, anything new, for me to do."

Years earlier, Smith had taken advantage of a career break forced upon him by a serious car accident to earn a degree in hospitality, followed by a master's degree in entrepreneurial studies from Caledonian University.

Although thus prepared to strike out on his own, he decided to give the catering industry a final go by taking a new job with Paramount as restaurant manager at Stirling Highland Hotel.

The switch failed to re-ignite his passion for the job, and he began seriously looking at possibilities for opening up his own business.

"I didn't want to set up in catering, because the catering business is really, really fickle," Smith said. "I think something like 80% of them fail within the first year."

At the end of a particularly long working day at Stirling Highland, whisky lover Smith decided to treat himself to a bottle of his favourite tipple to take home that evening. It was then he discovered there were no dedicated whisky shops in Stirling - "I couldn't believe it" - and the idea for Angels' Share began taking shape.

From his time in the restaurant trade, Smith knew there were many people who knew little about the basics of whisky and the varieties of Scotch on offer. With substantial tourist trade coming through Stirling, he believed a personal and knowledgeable approach to the subject could be the key to a successful business venture.

He spent the next four months researching his business plan, which included a great deal of observing shoppers at whisky outlets in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Although he would set up Angels' Share with his own savings, he wanted a complete strategy covering everything from customer profiles and marketing to business forecasts and seasonal swings within the industry.

"I had to know myself, in my own mind, that the business would work," he said.

Situated slightly off Stirling's main thoroughfare, Angels' Share is stocked with products from about 70 distilleries in more than 250 expressions. Prices start at £17 and top out at £255, and although Smith has not tasted all of them, he said he is familiar with the flavour profile of every bottle on the shelves.

"The way I treat it is that I will advise people on whisky," the 39-year-old said. "There are a lot of people who don't know a whole lot about whisky, especially people who are buying gifts for someone else."

Smith aims to open a second and possibly a third shop within the next two to three years, and would likely target towns and cities roughly the size of Stirling.

"I am not looking at this in the short term," he said of expansion. "It opens up different markets to you, and you benefit from economies of scale and other things like that."