A leap of faith for the Kavanagh Group

Managing director for the Kavanagh Group, Noel Kavanagh jr., tells Neighbourhood Retailer why rebranding the group’s only Northern store was the best move they could have made in 2018

When Neighbourhood Retailer asks Noel Kavanagh jr., managing director of The Kavanagh Group, what has been his personal highlight of 2018 without pausing for thought he responds with, “the opening of our new Centra store in Derry.

“I’m delighted that we made the decision to change the offer from what was there previously and although we always expected it to do well, it’s been great to see it go from strength to strength and surpass our expectations,” he explains.

The Kavanagh Group is a family-owned retailing business based in Westport, County Mayo that operates nine SuperValu supermarkets in the Republic of Ireland and one high-convenience Centra store in Derry/Londonderry.

Last year, the group took the decision to close its SuperValu store that had been trading in Derry/Londonderry city centre since 2001 and opened a shiny, new Centra store in the premises next door.

Senior management within the Kavanagh Group felt that a larger supermarket concept no longer suited the city location and recognised the demand for a high convenience store with a greater focus on food-to-go. As the market changes, customers are no longer travelling into the city centre to do a full trolley shop, especially without parking facilities onsite.

“While the SuperValu store traded well for many years, when we took the time to really look at it, with the ever shifting city centre environment, we felt the offer needed to be changed,” said Noel. “So we sold the original store and acquired the building next door. The Centra brand is much more suited to the city centre location and we are thrilled with the performance of the store so far.”

Following a £750,000 investment, Centra Waterloo Place opened its doors to the public in May. So far the customer feedback has been outstanding with the store struggling to keep sandwiches and salads made in the onsite deli on shelves in the opening weeks. As well as being an instant success with the city’s shoppers, Centra Waterloo Place received its first industry accolade in October at the Neighbourhood Retailer Awards – after just five months of trading.

“As a company we are dedicated to looking after our customers and delivering exceptionally high standards of customer service,” said Noel. “The team at Centra Waterloo Place, led by store manager Sarah Doherty, have done a tremendous amount of work to hit the ground running as quickly as we did. To a win an award so early on was a fantastic reward for the whole team.”

On opening the new store, The Kavanagh Group and Musgrave were able to bring the very first Green Kitchen to Northern Ireland. The new deli, which incorporates a made-to-order, innovative salad bar, has been a hit with locals looking for quick and healthy breakfast and lunch meal solutions on-the-go.

Green Kitchen is a concept that has been trialled by Musgrave in the Republic of Ireland and is now being rolled out across its store estate in Northern Ireland.

“The customer feedback has been fantastic and the Green Kitchen has helped us become a morning and lunchtime destination for food-to-go.

“Healthy eating is absolutely a trend and we are seeing a huge surge in people wanting healthier options as well as a move towards vegetarian and vegan ranges. This is something we’re staying very close to and will continue to invest in as we expand our store network.”

In addition to the Green Kitchen, fresh participation has accounted for over 50 percent of sales at the new site.

“We pride ourselves on our excellent fresh food offering across NI and RoI,” said Noel. “We would differentiate ourselves from our competitors through our fresh food offers and innovation in this area in all of our stores.”

The Kavanagh Group has been a partner of Musgrave since 1980 when Noel’s father opened the group’s first SuperValu in their hometown Westport.

Describing the group’s longstanding relationship with the symbol group as excellent, Noel said:

“Musgrave give us scale in terms of buying power. They are very much cutting edge in terms of concept and worked with us throughout the whole process in designing the store. The look and feel of the new Centra branding is second to none and Musgrave was instrumental in helping us grow the business.”

As for the 2019, The Kavanagh Group will be looking at new opportunities in Northern Ireland.

“We have great confidence in the Centra brand and what Musgrave are doing in Northern Ireland. We believe in the strength of the brand and are actively looking for opportunities to move forward in the North.”