Having marked a decade in business in September 2024, the last 12 months have proven to be an exciting time for Bells of Crossgar, including a fuel forecourt transformation to Texaco.

With a long-standing family connection to the area, the Bell name is a well-known and respected one across Crossgar. Store owner, Gabriel’s father once owned an Esso station and car dealership at the site, while Gabriel and his two brothers also owned a Spar in another part of the town.

Following many successful years in business together, the brothers decided to sell the shop and go their separate ways, with Gabriel subsequently building and opening the SuperValu store at the Downpatrick Road site near to the original car dealership.

As store manager, Darren Fitzpatrick explained, Gabriel wanted to bring a modern and essential service to the local area.

“He wanted to provide something for the community with a bit of a bigger convenience store, something that would entice the customer in and have everything under one roof,” said Darren.

The store stands at 6000 sq ft and boasts free car parking, a Post Office and Texaco forecourt. Now approaching their 11^th year in business, Darren revealed they have exciting plans in the pipeline.

“We are hoping to submit plans shortly to extend out at the back of the shop. Gabriel has acquired land at the back of the site and we are hoping this will give us more space on the shop floor and allow us to increase our storage capacity,” said Darren.

“Storage is at a premium for us and over the years, as we’ve added onto elements of the store and our offering, we need to increase the storage we have on site.”

Over the course of the last 10 years, a lot of work has been done to improve the store’s offerings with the Post Office arriving in 2015 and an expansion to their off licence.

“There was an opportunity for us to see how well the sales were doing in certain areas, and our off licence was probably under spaced, so we extended it as well as our grocery offering,” said Darren.

“We doubled the size of our off licence. Our sales were very strong there from day one and we looked at it and worked out what we could do to improve the size of it.

“We also wanted to keep some more of the products chilled, and so we introduced another fridge into the off licence. We now have two walk-in fridges, they are obviously not unique to us, but they have certainly helped to drive sales.

“We sell the take-home kegs and we keep them chilled and we have had very good feedback from customers on this. We have had customers coming to us from all over, including one who buys the kegs and takes them to his son in Derry, as he said they’re the best ones because they’re chilled.”

The expanded off licence has added significant value to the store’s offering, which in addition to the Post Office and their grocery, fresh food and frozen ranges also boasts a hot food deli, Frank & Honest Coffee, a butchery, Moo’d Ice Cream and is also a National Lottery retailer.

Additionally, they have been working to improve their ‘green credentials’ with the introduction of sustainable practices to the store, including solar panels.

“We were one of the first shops to open with doors on fridges, but we did also have a lot of spider fridges which we have recently changed to all running on plant.

“It’s about moving forward with the environmental aspect and also the element of cost savings, it does all have an impact.”

While eager to move with the times and expand the convenience offerings to their customers, Bells have been conscious about what up-to-date concepts they introduce in-store and have kept their loyal customers front of mind when making some of these decisions.

“An emotive topic for us was the self-scan tills,” said Darren.

“We had nearly put them in but then decided not to. We consulted with our customers and they said they would not like them as they would miss the conversations with staff.

“It’s those loyal customers who are coming in here two or three times a day. We were very close to putting them in and had paperwork signed, but for us it was a personal decision not to put them in, in the end and I do not think it has done us any harm.”

READ THE FULL FEATURE ON BELLS OF CROSSGAR IN THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER HERE

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With a prime location on the fringes of Armagh City, Mullan’s Foodstore’s Monaghan Road has excelled in establishing itself as the trusted store for its loyal customer base, priding themselves on their fresh food offering as well as convenience.

In May this year to mark their 20^th anniversary, they took the opportunity to give back to their customers with a special fun day at the store, repaying the community with giveaways and freebies both big and small.

The family-run business has become a well-known and reliable name within supermarket convenience in the Armagh area, with further stores in Markethill and Killylea Road cementing their status within the retail industry.

As we all know, the pressures and stresses of the industry do not lend themselves to stopping and taking stock of achievements made, but as Stephen explained, the fun day was a chance see things from the customers’ perspective.

“It was lovely to actually stop and celebrate and see what we have achieved. The last few months in particular have been so busy, so it was good to stop and think about how long we have been in business and really think about how much time has passed,” said Stephen.

“It even lifted all the staff morale too and it was a great boost for them.”

Having started from scratch in May 2005, Stephen and Donna were a young married couple with a young child when they ventured into retail. With backgrounds in social care and a mechanic, neither had any previous experience in retail, but were ambitious and eager to give it a go.

“We had the site and because of the location and where it is, is a very busy junction, we thought it would be a great site for a shop and filling station,” said Stephen.

“The early days were tough, you are grappling with a lot of debt and in a new business that you did not know anything about. We got on with it and you learn very quickly when you have to.

“We were young and ambitious and kept at it. We were building a business from zero, there was no customer base and plenty of competition, it was a big steep learning curve.”

Over the years, Stephen and Donna have made significant investments into the store, totalling over £3.5 million. These investments have allowed for three major refurbishments to bring top quality services and products to shoppers. The refurbishments also included the introduction of solar panels and high efficiency refrigeration.

When it opened in 2005, the brand-new store was approximately 2400 sq ft, employing 15 people and following recent expansion and development, it now stands at 4200 sq ft and employs 36 people from the local area.

“The building itself was large but we developed the whole upper floor of the building with a new suite of offices, training room, canteens and built a whole new production kitchen,” said Stephen.

“All back-of-house is now upstairs and that allowed us to maximise the entire downstairs for retail.”

Significantly, they opened an off licence in the store, which has been received very positively by customers.

“We always wanted one in the store and the customers were looking for one. In a store of this size, they are all expecting it. There are so many hoops you have to jump through, but we got it and the customers are extremely happy and it’s doing very well.”

A critical part of the expansion was to enable the growth of their fresh food offering. A key part of the store and what it is widely known for, Stephen and Donna sought to grow this area of the business further.

“We used the expansion to massively increase our fresh offering – our deli cabinet is much bigger, as well as our fruit and veg and meat – the extra space was all given to fresh, while about 10-15% of our grocery lines grew.

“This is a high fresh store – it would really be about 60% of the business, so it’s very very important to us,” added Stephen.

With their own brand – Mullans Foodstore’s – in the deli, they aim to run their new kitchen as an almost separate unit in order to supply their own shops. With an extensive range of prepped items, ready meals and deli counter products, Stephen and Donna are delighted with how it is going.

READ THE FULL FEATURE ON MULLAN’S MONAGHAN ROAD ARMAGH IN THE JULY-AUGUST ISSUE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER HERE

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Trading for over 90 years, Brennan’s Seaforde is a well-known and hugely popular store, which has served several generations. Conor McKibbin’s parents, Paul and Margaret McKibbin bought the shop from the Brennan family in 1996 and since then have made the store a core part of the local community.

Since 1998, Conor has been at the helm of the popular family neighbourhood store and has committed himself and his staff to providing that essential neighbourhood service with a focus on providing for and supporting the community.

Having initially planned to refurbish the store in 2020, plans were put on hold as the turbulence of the outworkings of the pandemic took effect. Instead, work got underway in the spring of 2024, with works completed earlier this year. The refurbishment was supported by Ulster Bank.

The store, which stands at over 3500 sq ft, has undergone impressive renovation and refurbishment, with a change in the use of space proving a vital and successful move, allowing Conor to double the size of their retail offering.

“The store is the same footprint as before, but moving our non-retail space upstairs has grown the overall retail space and staff numbers have grown by 15,” explained Conor.

“Throughout the planning and the refurbishment works, we focused on our customer and their shopping requirements and experience, while back-of-house, we tried to adapt the working environment to the benefit of our very supportive team.”

The size of the fresh food offering has doubled, thanks to the works, while they are also able to deliver even more value throughout their new food and coffee to go as well as through their fresh and locally sourced products.

“Not only has our fresh food offering doubled, but our entire range of groceries throughout the store has extended to bring fantastic choice for now and for later and better yet, we have introduced even more price cuts to bring additional value to our shoppers,” said store manager, Gemma Kearney.

“Services have also expanded, with the Post Office now available at our checkouts from 8am to 8pm every day, bringing even more convenience to the area,” added Gemma.

Their four-pump fuel forecourt also underwent renovation during the recent works. Now trading under Texaco, new pre-pay pump options provide even more convenience for their customers.

Famous for their vanilla ice cream, which is made on site, the hugely popular Brennan’s Ice Cream counter is complemented by a new-look Brennan’s Deli and comfortable new seating area, all of which continue under the Brennan’s brand and offers breakfast, lunch and an all-new range of shakes to sit in or go.

“Thanks to the popularity of our Barista Bar coffee to go offering, we have also installed the all-new Barista Iced machine, giving shoppers the choice between a hot caffeine fix or a cold brew,” added Gemma. “We are delighted to be one of the first outlets in Northern Ireland to offer this product.

Additionally, Brennan’s Seaforde proudly boasts a production kitchen and an off sales, adding increasing convenience for customers and widening the offering available. This is having a tangible impact on the store, with Conor telling NR that “footfall is up and basket spend growing all the time”.

Inevitably, with work of this scale, there will be some hiccups along the way, but Conor said they were ably assisted by a core team.

“Despite some robust planning, major hurdles were overcome with the assistance of Whittaker & Watt Architects and the main contractor, Cleary’s Contracting,” said Conor.

READ THE FULL FEATURE ON BRENNAN’S SEAFORDE IN THE JULY-AUGUST ISSUE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER HERE

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With a city centre location on Waterloo Place in Derry~Londonderry, the Kavanagh Group’s move to open a high-convenience Centra store quickly proved to be a fruitful one, with a change in offer being sought by consumers in the area.

A family-owned retailing business based in Westport, County Mayo, the Kavanagh Group operates 12 SuperValu supermarkets in the Republic of Ireland and their one high-convenience Centra store at Waterloo Place.

Having traded under the SuperValu brand since 2001, senior management at the Group felt that a larger supermarket concept no longer suited the city centre location and recognised the demand for a high convenience store with a greater focus on food to go.

Following a £750,000 investment, Centra Waterloo Place opened its doors in May 2018, with the Group believing the Centra brand to be much more suited to the city centre location.

“A lot of our customers are office-based, professionals who want something on the go, quick, grabbing their lunch or breakfast on their way to work,” said store manager, Sarah McGuinness.

“At the start we were quite surprised at how busy we were. In the first few days we were running about because we did not expect so many people! We were selling out of a lot of stuff, so we had to get our heads down, concentrate on what our customers were looking for and focus on that.”

As well as being an instant success with the city’s shoppers, Centra Waterloo Place received its first industry accolade just a matter of months after opening at the Neighbourhood Retailer Awards, a win management described as a fantastic reward for the whole team.

Sarah will soon mark her 20^th year working for the Kavanagh Group, and having previously worked in their SuperValu store, she was brought in as store manager for the new Centra store.

“I was here through the building and planning stages and when it opened in May 2018, it was great to see a bright, shiny new store,” said Sarah. “This store is my baby! I have been here from the start of the work to opening and up to now and we are just evolving all the time.”

The 1800 sq ft store is manned by 11 staff, including Sarah and all the team are committed to producing top-quality produce each day for their customers.

On opening the store, the Kavanagh Group and Musgrave were able to bring the very first Green Kitchen to Northern Ireland. The deli, which incorporates a made-to-order, innovative salad bar was a huge success at the start and continues to be a crucial part of the store today.

“The customers were mad about it!” said Sarah. “There is more of a theatrical side to it with everything prepared there and then. It was a great success for us when we opened and it still is.

“A few months ago we created a new menu for it, adding on new wraps and salads to it. Myself and the food to go team at Musgrave put together the new menu and it’s going really well for us.”

With 30% of their sales coming from food to go, it is the cornerstone of the store’s success and they continue to see significant growth in it. Predominantly a breakfast/lunch concept, Centra Waterloo Place does provide an evening range of pre-packed food through their Clean Cut range as well as the Good Food Locally Sourced range from Musgrave.

“It’s about finding out what the customers want and to keep providing that convenience for them,” said Sarah.

READ THE FULL FEATURE ON KAVANAGH’S CENTRA WATERLOO PLACE IN THE JUNE ISSUE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER HERE

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With over 30 employees, James and Corinna Trainor know the importance of having hard working and committed staff to ensure they maintain the high standards they have come to expect.

Proud owners of their store in Poyntzpass, husband-and-wife team, James and Corinna have established a business which is a critical component of the area, not only providing a practical retail service to their customers but also core customer service.

This drive and determination to do the best for their customers saw them win the Outstanding Customer Service Award at the 2024 Neighbourhood Retailer Awards, with James and Store Manager, David Lavery on hand to collect the much-coveted gong.

Judges praised the staff at Trainor Bros SPAR Poyntzpass for their unwavering politeness, professionalism, and helpfulness, adding these were all combined with a friendly and engaging conversational style.

As David told NR, it is this aspect of staff training he takes particular pride in.

“When we take new staff or students on, I tell them to treat every customer as if it was your own family member, a grandparent or someone, as you could be the only person they speak to the whole day,” said David.

“You can see the impact that also has on the staff as the customers come in regularly at their usual times and the staff are looking forward to seeing them and chatting to them. We always aim to be friendly, warm and welcoming to our customers.

“I also encourage the staff to carry out the shopping, especially for our older customers. You don’t get that kind of service in the bigger supermarket chains and we do go that extra mile and offer as much as we can.”

David said the pride that the whole staff took from the award win was testament to how much it meant to them.

“I have been to a lot of awards before and never won, so we were absolutely delighted. It just so happened that James and Corinna had invited the staff along, so it was even better that everyone was there to enjoy it.

“I know it’s under the name of the store, but every staff member took it as if they had won it themselves. The buzz in the shop during the weekend afterwards, with the plaque sitting out was brilliant, everyone got such pride from it.

“Our customers were delighted for us too, and it was so lovely to hear that it didn’t come as a surprise to them. We do get mystery shoppers in and we are at the point of getting 80% to 90% which is good, but we want closer to 100%, that is the standard we expect and have of ourselves.”

Established in February 2016, James and Corinna built a brand-new shop as they realised there was a need for one in the village. Work began in 2015 at the site of James’s father’s mechanics garage, with the shop opening in February 2016.

Corinna is a former nurse, while James runs a very busy mechanics garage in Poyntzpass. David said the shop opening in the village was a very exciting development for the area.

“Neither James nor Corinna had any retail experience, but they had plenty of help from Henderson’s and they have been with them every step of the way,” said David.

“There was such a buzz when it opened and that came down to the fact of how much there was a need for it here. James always wanted it to be a one-stop shop and to serve the community from one place as much as possible.”

READ THE FULL FEATURE ON TRAINOR BROS SPAR POYNTZPASS IN THE APRIL ISSUE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER HERE

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