A fresh future for Mace Toomebridge

A fresh future for Mace Toomebridge

From a small filling station to a ‘Store of the Future’, owner of Mace Toomebridge, Frank Boyd tells Neighbourhood Retailer what a journey it has been.

As one of the first stores in Northern Ireland to receive the Mace ‘Store of the Future’ makeover, business has truly transformed for MaceToomebridge.

Opening in April 2018, the new store created 30 jobs, and was the result of a £200,000 investment by its owners.

Owned by the Boyd family, Mace Toomebridge began the year operating as a small convenience store selling impulse drinks and coffee-to-go. Now, owner Frank Boyd reports it’s not unusual to see a deli queue eight customers deep during the busiest periods of the day.

“We’ve had a really good response,” says Frank. “It’s taken us by storm. We opened during the nice weather and it just took off – we were struggling to keep the drinks on the shelves.

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The Boyd family, who own a Centra store at Junction One, a Mace in Moneyglass and operate a Musgrave-owned Centra in Muckamore are no strangers to the Musgrave brand having been a loyal supporter of the symbol group for seven years.

Despite that, the family were astonished by how quickly the new site became a success.

“It went beyond our expectations,” says Frank. “We revamped our Centra store at Junction One coming up to two years ago now and we’ve seen business increase at a steady rate ever since. We expected this store to follow suit but it has just skyrocketed overnight.

“I am a big fan of the Centra concept, but the way they’ve done this Mace, with the colour scheme and Munch & Co. deli, it was the right choice for this shop.

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Plans to renovate the Toomebridge store came after two retail units at the site became available enabling expansion. The family approached the owner of the building, who was more than happy to oblige, and work commenced soon after.

“We put in considerable investment but we realise that you need to invest to reap the rewards,” says Frank.

The biggest change to the store has been the addition of a Munch & Co. deli alongside a hot food offering and burrito bar. A large forecourt with ample parking and a newly added spacious seating area means the store has begun to attract a wider customer base. Frank describes the deli as “the cornerstone of the store”, drawing customers in and encouraging up-sells on impulse items such as soft drinks and confectionery.

“That’s the way retail is going, in my opinion. If you can get a fantastic food offering to people, that will bring customers into your store.

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“It’s definitely a destination store now; no other store in Toome has what we are offering. Our closest competitor would be in Magherafelt.

Frank reports that the salad offering is performing particularly well as customers seek out fresh and healthy options.

“We don’t just have your standard range of hot foods, we have healthy options as well. It’s an amazing trend at the moment – everyone is very healthy and trying to make better choices.”

Located close to a Crossfit gym, Mace Toomebridge’s customer base is receptive to new healthy lines. A range of take-home and heat-up meals from local Castledawson company Eat Naked are proving very popular with customers.

“It’s important to support local,” says Frank. “People are always looking out for local products and it’s something Musgrave are trying to push too. All of Musgrave’s meat is sourced locally and most of the fruit and vegetables too. It’s something that they are encouraging at the moment and we are trying to get on board with too.”

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As a ‘Store of the Future’, Mace Toomebridge stocks everything you can expect to see at a high convenience site – from ‘3 for £10’ meal solutions, to an impressive range of food-to-go. However, also adorning the shelves is an impressive range of the freshest fish Lough Neagh has to offer. With an eel fishery on its doorstep, the store receives a selection of vacuumed packed pollan and trout to sell onto its customers. As the fishery has no retail outlet, locals struggle to buy directly from the plant but the relationship Mace Toomebridge has with the owner provides an opportunity for customers to purchase fish sourced only minutes from their homes.

“Before we renovated the store we would find customers wouldn’t really venture down this far to the area we are in Toome. There are two other stores in the town but they don’t have as much parking as we do with the large forecourt.

“Since the redesign, people know what’s available in-store, they know it’s easily accessible, they know that we’re offering something different from what you can already get in Toome.

“Also, we have the fuel which is a great help. Overall we are really pleased with the new look and how the high convenience, ‘store of the future’ is performing. We couldn’t be happier.”