Milestone, Rathfriland

Milestone, Rathfriland
Tom McAvoy (right) with produce manager, William Owens

Just when you think you’ve seen all the best independent retail stores, someone comes along and shakes up the sector.

Tom McAvoy’s new Nisa Milestone convenience store in Rathfriland, Co Down has done just that. The new store that opened just a few months ago has seen his old 5,500 sq ft store extended and transformed into a state-of-the-art 15,000 sq ft convenience store.

Tom has been in the business since the late 80s and like most retailers has gradually built up the business, extending his store over the years before making the decision to completely rebuild.

“It simply got to the point where we were massively overtrading in the old store so I knew that we had the footfall to move the business forward,” Tom told NR.

The project had been in his mind for a number of years but Tom needed to secure the extra land adjacent to the current store which he did in March of last year, which then enabled the store development to progress.

The new store is a fantastic retail experience. From the spectacular fresh fruit and veg display, complete with stainless steel pipes constantly emitting a fine mist to keep the produce fresh, to the huge selection of deli products and ready meals, all made on–site, Milestone Rathfriland has certainly raised the bar.

Milestone is home to a delicious deli, serving a range of fresh hot and cold food, a spacious shop stocked with shopping essentials, including an off-licence, National Lottery terminal, PayPoint facility and ATM as well as a Maxol petrol station which incorporates a modern car washing station and home heating fuel.

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A wide selection of fresh cakes and take-home foods made in-store

Deli has always been the focus of Tom’s business and the new store has now enabled him to expand his take-home options.

“We have always been very strong on the deli and we have been driving it for the past 20 years,” he explained.

“We always found that the deli offering was something very few shops could get right. It has been the driving force in the business and certainly gives us an edge over our competitors. The rest of the shop performs well too as we have good prices and promotions that generate footfall.”

The off-licence has been expanded too and has a fantastic selection of wines and craft beers which have proven very popular with customers.

The new store is housed within a 40,000 sq ft building that features a full scratch bakery with a team on-site making bread, cakes and desserts, there’s a kitchen producing the take-home meals and a new butchery.

Butchery manager, Sean Morgan at the pre-pack meat counter
Butchery manager, Sean Morgan at the pre-pack meat counter

“The new store means we can now make and display a lot more products and it is continuing to grow,” said Tom.

“Our take home meals and bread and butchery are performing very well.”

He continued: “We used to buy in pre-pack meats but now we can buy in sides of beef and butcher them in-house. It was the one thing missing from the old store and now we can monitor the quality issues a lot better and it’s proving hugely popular. Although people like to buy pre-packs we feel it is important that the product is made on site and we can stand over it in terms of quality.”

The feedback from shoppers has been extremely positive and in fact Tom has seen his basket spend increase by at least £5 since the new store opened, which shows that Milestone is now attracting more weekly shops.

“Our customers seem to really like the shop. Edge Design Fit Ltd in Lisburn got everything just right; from the colour scheme to the plan and layout of the shop,” explained Tom.

 

Milestone Rathfriland
Milestone Rathfriland

“We had the plans for two or three years and we changed them countless times to get where we are today. We put a lot of emphasis on the flow of the shop, not to have a square sterile store. We feel that the traffic flow now is just right.”

Tom continued: “People don’t want to walk around a huge hypermarket, they don’t have the time.

“We needed to be careful to keep the convenience aspect so when you come through the door you get two options – go to the fruit, veg and grocery or pick up some convenience items.”

He added: “We have invested heavily in the new store but it will pay for itself and we are confident of that. Business is doing better now than we were expecting to do by this time in 2015. You can’t stand still in retail; we all know that so investing in the business was crucial and we are confident it will help the business grow further in years to come.”

 *Pictured top is Tom McAvoy (right) with produce manager, William Owens

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