Our history
The third generation of Musgraves, Jack and Hugh Musgrave, inherited the business at a time when old-fashioned grocers, that comprised some 2,000 Musgrave clients in Ireland, were under threat. This led to the implementation of VG’s trading system in 1958. This formed the foundations for our modern business.
Our client groceries now signed up to become part of the VG fold. This meant they pledged to buy all their stock from us, while we in turn lowered our prices as a result of increased buying power and lower distribution costs. VG stores benefited from group advertising and group-wide sales.
In the early 1980s Musgrave Group updated the VG system. The group divided into two brand-name stores. Large stores were branded SuperValu, while the smaller stores were named Centra. By the late 1980s, the SuperValu group included 122 stores, and Centra had grown to over 250 outlets.
In 1994 we acquired the Spanish Dialsur business. In 2002 the business acquired Budgens in Britain and in 2004 the Londis brand.
In 2009 Group sales were €4.5 billion and our retail partners operating the nine retail brands we support across Republic of Ireland, UK and Spain delivered combined turnover of €6.6 billion. |
In 1876 brothers Thomas and Stuart Musgrave opened a grocery in Cork. The business incorporated in 1894 as Musgrave Brothers Limited, with a charter to retail and wholesale.