Daybreak Dungarvan named Daybreak Store of the Year

Daybreak Dungarvan has been named ‘Store of the Year’ at the annual Daybreak Store of the Year Awards, which took place Wednesday 14th February. Hosted in the Lyrath Estate Hotel Kilkenny, the awards recognise retail excellence across Daybreak stores nationwide.

Daybreak is Ireland’s fastest growing convenience group with 220 stores nationwide. All stores are independently owned by local retailers ensuring that each store can respond to the everyday needs of their local community.

Daybreak Dungarvan, located on Youghal Rd, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, is owned by Kevin Forde and employs 30 people. As well as scooping the top accolade Overall Store of the Year on the night, the store was also accredited with the Charity Merit Award for its outstanding achievement in raising over €7,000 for the Irish Heart Foundation, Daybreak’s charity partner in 2017.

Fifteen retailers were shortlisted for the overall Daybreak Store of the Year Award, which focuses on four key areas – products & services, environment, communications, and people. During the competition stores were assessed against rigorous criteria, including a series of mystery shopper audits on store standards.

As well as the coveted overall Store of the Year accolade, other awards on the night focused on key in-store categories and store layouts. The winners were:

Best Availability Award: Daybreak Eyre Square
Best Wine Award: Daybreak Raven Terrace, Galway City
Best Off-Licence Award: Daybreak Clerihan
Mystery Shopper Award: Daybreak Tractamotors
Best Food to Go & Hot Beverage Award: Daybreak Clonliffe Road
Best Impulse Award: Daybreak Bailieborough
Convenience Store of the Year: Daybreak Raven Terrace, Galway City
Forecourt of the Year: Daybreak Drumgould

Adding to Daybreak Dungarvan’s phenomenal business success, the Dungarvan-based store was also recently awarded the highly prestigious Q Mark Emerald Standard. The National Q Mark awards are widely recognised in Ireland’s food service industry as the Oscars of Business Excellence. The Q Mark is the highest standard of food safety available in Ireland and verifies Daybreak Dungarvan’s efficiency, performance and commitment to food safety. Furthermore, Daybreak Dungarvan also received the prestigious award of National Lottery Retail Shop of the Year at the ShelfLife Awards in November last, as well as being a finalist in the Forecourt & Convenience Awards.

Speaking at the Daybreak Store of the Year awards ceremony, Thomas Morrison, Daybreak Head of Retail Sales, said:

“I would like to congratulate Kevin Forde and his hardworking team at Daybreak Dungarvan on this tremendous achievement. We are passionate about the Store of the Year awards, as they celebrate excellence in convenience retailing and highlight the great consumer experience provided across the Daybreak network. The level of competition this year was remarkable and this award win is testament to the Dungarvan team’s huge effort and commitment to providing local people with high quality service and goods.”

Daybreak Dungarvan Store owner Kevin Forde also commented:

“This is a fantastic achievement for us and I would like to personally thank each and every one of our team members for their contribution in making Daybreak Dungarvan ‘Store of the Year’. This award win will no doubt assist in fuelling our passion to provide the very best possible offering to our current and future customer base.”

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SuperValu to open three new stores and create 210 jobs in 2018

Posted on 26th February 201826th September 2019 by Musgrave | News Our brands SuperValu

€40m Investment Programme Planned

SuperValu announced today that it plans to open three new stores and create 210 jobs in 2018. The announcement was made at its national conference in Killarney today where the grocery retailer revealed that it recorded sales of €2.7 billion in 2017, a new sales milestone for the brand. In addition to the three new stores, SuperValu also announced that 50 revamps will take place across its store network as part of a €40 million investment programme in new stores, revamps and online capability. This brings the total investment by SuperValu retailers in store openings and revamps to €110 million since 2016.

In addition to its store expansion plans, SuperValu also updated its retailers on its commercial strategy for 2018, with the grocery retailer focusing on delivering the best combination of value, customer service and quality fresh food in the market. SuperValu has made a strong start to the year by delivering over €9 million in price cuts across hundreds of products in its Own Brand range, which won 31 Great Taste awards in 2017 – more than any other retailer.

The food retailer has also rolled out new promotional mechanics like its SuperValu Seven Fruit & Veg offer, with big savings on seven types of fruit and vegetables every week. The new promotion, which has already proved to be highly popular with shoppers, is part of a wider SuperValu strategy to make wholesome healthy food more accessible and affordable. SuperValu has been able to leverage unique features like having a butcher and fish counter in each store, with sales of its organic meat and fruit and vegetable range growing by 15% in 2017.

SuperValu continues to invest in innovation with its online shopping offer going from strength to strength, with sales increasing by 22% in 2017. SuperValu has also continued to expand its Real Rewards loyalty programme, adding new partners such as eir in 2017. Since the successful relaunch of the loyalty scheme, an additional 160,000 customers have joined the programme, bringing the total membership to 1.1 million people.

Speaking at the SuperValu national conference in Killarney, Martin Kelleher, SuperValu Managing Director, said: “Despite a highly competitive grocery market, SuperValu continues to grow and our focus for 2018 will be to build on this momentum by continuing to deliver the best combination of value, customer service and quality fresh food in the market. By differentiating ourselves from the competition, particularly through our unrivalled commitment to Irish suppliers, SuperValu will continue to be a destination shop as we have products on shelf that cannot be bought elsewhere.”

“SuperValu has been ideally placed to take advantage of a heightened interest in health and food provenance due to our leadership in fresh. We bring the best of fresh, quality Irish produce to consumers with a tailored, local offer in every store. We have butcher counters in store and our fresh meat is 100% Irish, so we lead the market in terms of quality food that consumers can trust.”

Throughout 2018 SuperValu will continue to leverage its unique retail model, where stores are individually owned and operated by independent retailers, enabling them to deliver a tailored offer to the local community. One of the main milestones this year will be to become the first retailer to rollout autism friendly stores across its network. The initiative will see a commitment to making Autism Friendly shopping times available in more stores, with additional supports such as de-sensitisation of store sounds and autism friendly trolleys which were developed by a SuperValu employee.

The grocery retailer will also continue to build upon the success of its Food Academy programme, which now has 350 participating Irish food producers. The level of retail sales that Food Academy has achieved has helped these emerging companies to create a combined 1,500 jobs. The initiative has also helped to solidify SuperValu’s Irish food credentials, with the grocery retailer supporting over 1,800 Irish producers – more than any other grocery retailer.

SuperValu serves over 2.7 million customers every week and has 217 stores nationwide. Together with its retail partners, SuperValu employs approximately 14,500 colleagues, making it one of the State’s largest private sector employers. 75% of everything on SuperValu’s shelves is sourced in Ireland. SuperValu continues to source locally wherever possible which helps to sustain 30,000 jobs in the Irish economy.

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Donncha O’Callaghan joins forces with Centra to help Ireland Live Well

Posted on 23rd February 201826th September 2019 by Musgrave | Centra Communities Food Leadership News

Rugby legend Donncha O’Callaghan was announced yesterday as the new ambassador for Centra’s healthy living initiative, Live Well. The Live Well plan encourages people to make simple changes to their lifestyle, aiming to make healthy living as easy as possible. Centra are encouraging people to live well, while still making the most of every day.

Live Well is a complete wellbeing plan for a happier healthier you; it’s not about calorie counting, weigh-ins or a restrictive regime. It’s a simple to follow plan that can fit into any lifestyle, it can be done anywhere with no equipment needed, all ages and abilities are catered for and best of all, it’s free. There are a variety of plans depending on ability, all of which include weekly tips and goals, exercise plans, healthy recipes and daily step challenges. Each 12 week plan was devised by fitness expert Pat Divilly with the help of Donncha O’Callaghan, and is free to sign-up to on www.centra.ie/live-well.

Rugby legend and Centra's Live Well Ambassador Donncha O'Callaghan launches Centra's health living initiative. — Pictured: Rugby legend and Centra’s Live Well Ambassador Donncha O’Callaghan launches Centra’s health living initiative, which encourages people to make simple changes to their lifestyle to make healthy living as easy as possible. Sign up on Centra.ie/livewell

Speaking at the launch, Centra’s new Live Well ambassador Donncha O’ Callaghan said “We all lead hectic lives! The beauty of the Live Well plan is that it’s tailored to help you make simple changes to your everyday routines to help you get the most out of life; it’s nothing too complex or preachy. The plans include everything you need for a healthy lifestyle so living well couldn’t be easier; sign up now on www.centra.ie/live-well.”

The Live Well plan is about making small changes that improve your overall wellbeing and leave you feeling happier and healthier. For more information, go to www.centra.ie/live-well.

Centra to open 30 new stores

Posted on 9th February 201826th September 2019 by Musgrave | Centra News Our brands

And add 400 jobs as part of €30 million expansion

Ireland’s number one convenience retailer Centra has announced plans to open 30 new stores and revamp a further 100, creating a total of 400 new jobs as part of a €30 million investment.

The expansion forms part of Centra’s ongoing transformation as the retailer’s healthy convenience offering continues to grow following its brand repositioning – Live Every Day – two years ago.

The continued shift by consumers for healthier options as part of living a balanced lifestyle and the rollout of Frank and Honest, the company’s gourmet coffee brand, across the store network helped drive Centra’s commercial performance last year.

Since repositioning the Centra brand in 2016, the company has adopted a healthier, more innovative product offering and reshaped the in-store experience to encourage shoppers to opt for healthier choices. In the past year alone, sales of its Grab & Go healthy sandwich range rose sharply by 24%, impulse water purchases were also up 10% on the previous year, and sales of salad boxes rose to almost €2 million.

The Frank and Honest gourmet coffee brand, which is available in 370 of its stores, also performed strongly last year. The Frank and Honest offering led to a sharp rise in sales for Centra in the hot beverages category, which doubled in 2017.

As part of its growth strategy, Centra continues to respond to customers’ demand for healthy convenience through the introduction of innovative digital solutions. These include the Beat the Queue app, which allows busy lunch-break shoppers to pre-order sandwiches and avoid waiting. The Beat the Queue service will be introduced to over 100 stores in 2018.

Martin Kelleher, Managing Director of Centra, said: “We are very happy with our performance in 2017 in what is an extremely competitive market. Our decision to reposition Centra in response to changing consumer trends, with customers increasingly choosing healthy options, has paid dividends. Similarly, a more discerning taste for coffee has enabled us to double sales through the introduction of our gourmet coffee brand Frank and Honest.”

“We do not plan to rest on our laurels and will continue to lead the market in terms of innovation, as the introduction of new services like the Beat the Queue app demonstrates. Our ultimate ambition is to redefine convenience shopping and we are leading the charge in this respect, as demonstrated by Centra Parnell Street winning IGD Innovative Store of the Year ahead of 700 stores across 50 countries.”

“We are well-positioned for the future with plans to open a further 30 Centra stores in 2018, highlighting the attractiveness of the Centra brand to independent retailers. Our performance is ultimately testament to the efforts of our retail partners, who live the brand every day and deliver a tailored offer to the local community.”

With over 450 stores, Centra employs over 11,000 people and serves over three million customers per week. Centra invests more than €240 million in local communities per annum, which is the equivalent of €4.5 million per week through a combination of payments to local suppliers, acquisition of local business services, wages, charitable donations and local sponsorships.

Deegan’s Centra in Urlingford named the best Centra in Ireland for 2018

Posted on 6th February 201826th September 2019 by Musgrave | Centra News

Deegan’s Centra in Urlingford, Co Kilkenny has been named the best Centra in Ireland, scooping the Centra Store of the Year award for 2018. The store received the much-coveted accolade at the Centra National Conference, which took place at the Malton Hotel, Killarney.

Joe and Diane Deegan from Deegan’s Centra was presented with the award by Martin Kelleher, Managing Director of Centra, Ian Allen, Centra Sales Director and JF Michel, Account Director of Three Business, competition sponsors.

As part of the competitive process, retail consultant Dr Alan Collins audited Centra stores throughout Ireland, with each participating store assessed for its range, quality, customer service, hygiene, service offering and local community involvement.

Receiving the award, store owner Joe Deegan paid tribute to the team at Deegan’s and acknowledged that their enthusiasm and dedication were determining factors in Deegan’s Centra being selected as 2018 Centra Store of the Year.

“I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of all of our dedicated, hard-working staff members at Deegan’s. They are a super team of professionals who constantly strive to deliver the very best service, healthy convenience offering and value for money to our customers. This award is recognition of the great effort that they give every day.

Commenting on the awards, competition judge Dr Alan Collins said: “It is always a delight to engage with owners who are passionate about their stores, colleagues, customers and communities – and you can sense this passion as soon as you set foot in the door at Deegan’s. There’s something about Deegan’s that makes it feel ‘perfect’. It has a unique shopping experience and it all comes together at the front of the store, where you are greeted by an abundance of top quality fresh food. This is the kind of store everyone wants in their community and I would like to congratulate you and your colleagues on all that you have achieved.”

Ian Allen, Sales Director of Centra, commended all Centra retailers for their contribution to redefining convenience shopping. “Centra stores, such as Deegan’s in Urlingford, are perfect examples of independent retailers working hard in their local communities to succeed in a very competitive market, by meeting the needs of their customers. They provide choice, value and excellent service within their locality on a daily basis. Congratulations to the team at Deegan’s Centra, who have gone above and beyond to maintain the highest standards across the store.”

Month: February 2018

Daybreak Dungarvan named Daybreak Store of the Year

SuperValu to open three new stores and create 210 jobs in 2018

Donncha O’Callaghan joins forces with Centra to help Ireland Live Well

Centra to open 30 new stores

Deegan’s Centra in Urlingford named the best Centra in Ireland for 2018

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