With a business spanning generations and one that has witnessed several significant changes over the decades, County Armagh store JD Hunter & Co has long established itself as a reliable retail business across the whole county.

A destination store, it prides itself on catering for not just Markethill, but the wider rural area, with customers travelling some miles to avail of its offers and services.

The current shop, situated on the Mowhan Road, was built in 1999 and had subsequent development works carried out to it in 2012 before an extensive refurbishment was carried out in 2020. A £500,000 investment was carried out at this stage with new fridges and fruit and veg units brought in and new shelving fixtures installed.

The recent work saw fridge capacity updated and efficiency works carried out throughout the store, whilst making use of the most up-to-date equipment in the chill world.

As store manager, Chris McClure told NR, the works to upgrade and improve the store have been very well received by their shoppers.

“The customer response has always been very good, as we are always keen to improve that shopping experience for them. Investment into the local community supermarket breeds positivity,” said Chris.

The store now proudly stands at approximately 30,000 sq ft and employs 129 staff across full-time, part-time and student roles. With a range of USPs, not least their award-winning butchery department, JD Hunter & Co offers some stand-out services in their store, including an extensive hardware and gardening section and an in-store Post Office offering another point of difference.

“I think firstly our level of service to our local community and beyond is second to none, whilst being heavily involved in both social and charitable events,” said Chris.

“Our butchery/deli counter would be a major footfall driver with the vast majority of products being local and produced in-store. A deli/butchery counter the size of ours is quite rare in supermarkets currently and forms one of our unique offerings, with over 75% of our fresh produce being local sourced.”

It was this commitment to local sourcing and using top-quality ingredients which impressed the judges of this year’s Neighbourhood Retailer Awards, and they were quick to praise the butchery department for their efforts.

With an “exceptionally curated selection of premium meats and complementary items, all showcased in a sophisticated and organised setting” the judges were bowled over. “The staff were well trained and highly consultative, ensuring customers received great advice and information on the products,” they added.

“We source our meat from a number of suppliers with our biggest being our red meat supplier, Hewitt Meats Loughgall,” said Chris.

“We are also supplied by Pinkterons, Elliots, Rockvale, Carrs Elite Foods, Doherty & Gray, Grange Farm/Sprotts to name but a few. We have placed a massive emphasis on supporting and promoting locally sourced products which can be found throughout the shopping experience in-store.

“We were delighted to be there in person to accept such a prestigious award. We are humbled and honoured and would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Neighbourhood Retailer Awards for this incredible recognition.

“Adrian and our dedicated butchery team, with their hard work and dedicated, have thoroughly earned the right to call themselves Butcher of the Year.”

In the days following their win, the team at JD Hunter ran a variety of competitions, thanking customers for their support and celebrating their win.

“Feedback from customers has been excellent, with us even hosting a visit from the Irish Butchers’ Guild on 5^th November” added Chris.

“This was another proud moment for Adrian and our butchery team and a great opportunity for them to network with some of the most experienced butchers in the profession.

“Our social media competitions have been, as always, well supported as our butchery department moves from strength to strength.”

Having been owned and managed by the Henderson Group from 2019, in the summer of 2022 it was announced that South Belfast retailer and family-run business, the Creighton Group had acquired JD Hunter, with the takeover happening during August that year.

A well-known and popular independent retailer, the group is headed by brother-and-sister team Niall Creighton and Gail Boyd and operates three award-winning stores – Creightons of Finaghy, Creightons of Blacks Road and Creightons of Balmoral.

At the time of the takeover, Niall said expanding the company name was part of their business plan.

“We are honoured to have the opportunity to take over a store that has been family-run since the early 1900s, which mirrors our own family business,” he said.

Chris said he and the staff at JD Hunter had been equally delighted to have another family business at the helm.

“We as a team felt that it was important that ‘Hunters’ would remain a family-run independent business and were delighted to learn that the Creighton family would be taking over the business in 2022,” he said.

“The Creighton family have themselves been in business from 1936 and therefore have many similarities to the Hunter family who started their journey in 1920.

“We have been blessed to have been acquired by such a reputable, long-standing business like the Creighton family with Niall and Gail embedding those unique family values throughout the way we do business and serve our customers.”

READ THE FULL FEATURE ON JD HUNTER & CO IN THE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER ISSUE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER HERE

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The crowded Grand Ballroom erupted into cheers when Milestone Rathfriland was named the 2025 Retailer of the Year at this year’s NR Awards.

For a record-breaking fifth time, Tom and Ann McAvoy and the team at Milestone were awarded the most prestigious title in Northern Ireland retail – a remarkable success and one that goes down in the history books.

Almost four decades in the business, Tom and the whole team at Milestone Rathfriland do not rest on their laurels, continuing to lead the charge on innovation and setting the standards in the grocery industry in Northern Ireland.

Indeed, judges heaped praise on the store, highlighting how it had distinguished itself through its “superior and diverse range”, balancing popular essentials with specialised and bespoke goods, including many crafted on-site.

“This expansive selection is complemented by an unfailingly excellent service culture, which has fostered powerful customer loyalty and guaranteed a positive shopping journey,” said the judges.

“Furthermore, this is a business that takes its role in the community seriously, actively investing in resources that, in turn, fuels the store’s sustained success.”

Milestone Rathfriland secured two more trophies on Friday 17^th October, with a win as Fresh Food Store of the Year and Neighbourhood Store of the Year Category 3, further cementing their status as the retailer to beat. As Tom explained to NR during a visit to the store, they were delighted to win the Fresh Food Store award as this category is where they have focused over the last few years.

“We were hoping to win the fresh food award as we have worked hard on that,” said Tom.

“Fresh is a big sales driver in the store and it’s something we have focused on growing and delivering on for our customers.”

Having opened in 1988, Tom has seen many changes and developments within the industry in the last 37 years, with the growth of fresh food amongst them.

“There has definitely been a big push towards more fresh food offering. It’s a way of hunting for more business – if you do not do that you are limiting yourself in getting people in.”

Milestone Rathfriland started life as a small filling station with a kiosk, bought some 37 years ago by Tom, who was an engineer by trade. He has previously admitted to not intending to stay in the business for long, aiming to get it up and running before moving on. However, once he got immersed into the business he couldn’t leave.

“I really do enjoy it and it’s all-consuming, but it’s rewarding at the same time,” Tom previously told NR. “If I don’t keep pushing, it gets boring, so that’s why we keep trying to innovate and in turn, elevate the business.”

With a background in engineering, it has always ensured he has a great interest in machinery and production lines, experimenting with the latest machines and demonstrating those machines to other retailers.

Over the years, there has been an increasing demand from customers who want restaurant-quality food, ready-made for them to take home and Milestone Rathfriland has been ahead of the curve on this, with the business going from strength to strength with continual investment and development in these areas.

With a plan to continue developing their food to go and fresh food elements of the business, this has been a key focus for the team at Milestone and it has been reaping rewards. Over the last few years they have claimed awards wins in Food to Go, Store of the Year Cat 4 and Retailer of the Year – cementing an already well-established status as one of the top retailers in Northern Ireland.

Renowned across the region and indeed throughout Ireland and GB, Tom has put the success of the store down to their ability to provide several services under one roof, with a comfortable setting, a place to meet, greet, eat and shop all in one exceptional space.

Milestone Rathfriland proudly stands at an impressive 16,000 sq ft, a bright, modern store that works hard to serve the local community as well as enjoying custom from shoppers who travel from further afield.

Following an extensive renovation and expansion, Tom and Ann opened the larger store in 2014, however they continue to move with the times, and over the last 11 years they have continued to upgrade and modernise the store.

READ THE FULL FEATURE ON MILESTONE RATHFRILAND IN THE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER ISSUE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER HERE

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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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