€5 Million Investment and 55 New Jobs
A new SuperValu store on Ballymahon Road, Athlone officially opened today. The 10,000 square feet store, which local retailer Mary Croughan will operate, represents a total investment of €5.3 million and the creation of 55 new jobs.
Today’s announcement marks the second SuperValu store opening this month; the retailer celebrated the opening of its first Newbridge store in early September, creating 70 new jobs and representing an investment of €2.2 million. These developments are indicative of the growing momentum behind the SuperValu brand, with the retailer investing €18 million in store developments in 2015, adding 280 jobs to the SuperValu network. SuperValu now serves over 2.6 million customers every week and has 223 stores nationwide.
As the leading Irish grocery retailer, supporting over 2,200 local Irish suppliers, SuperValu is committed to supporting the Irish agri-food industry and investing in the local economy, and these new SuperValu stores are no different. The new Athlone and Newbridge stores are supporting emerging Irish food producers through the Food Academy range, which showcases start-up food companies and helps give small producers a big chance.
Commenting on the announcement, Martin Kelleher, Managing Director of SuperValu, said: “At SuperValu we are committed to building vibrant communities and through supplier partnerships and local employment, we look forward to continuing to contribute to the Athlone economy. Today’s store opening demonstrates the strength of SuperValu’s independent community retail model, with this Athlone store owned and operated by local businesswoman Mary Croughan. This is a very exciting development and following significant investment, customers of the new store will be able to enjoy the great value, quality and choice which is synonymous with SuperValu”.
Mary Croughan of SuperValu Athlone said, “We are very proud to be generating employment and helping to boost the local economy of Athlone with the creation of 55 jobs for Athlone. We are delighted to be able to offer the local community of Athlone a quality shopping experience with an extensive range at the best possible value, while at the same time creating local jobs. As an independent local retailer I am proud that I have the opportunity to invest locally by employing people from the Athlone area and sourcing from local suppliers, all of which will add to the overall shopping experience for our customers”.
75% of everything on SuperValu’s shelves is sourced or produced in Ireland. SuperValu continues to source locally wherever possible and purchases almost €2 billion worth of goods from Irish suppliers which help to sustain 30,000 jobs in the Irish economy.
