Grocery - Neighbourhood Retailer

SPAR manager Braves the Shave for Macmillan Cancer Support

Joe Kearney — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 15:33:00 +0000

Sharon Grimley, store manager at SPAR Jordanstown might look a little different to her shoppers after she got a new look, all in the name of charity.

Staff members got together to support Sharon as she took part in Brave the Shave – where she had all of her hair shaven off – for Macmillan Cancer Support. Sharon raised £3,422 for the organisation which provides care and services to families and individuals affected by cancer, including Sharon and her colleagues.

There was a great turn out from friends, families and customers, while local cake suppliers made generous donations of their bakes which could be enjoyed by shoppers in exchange for a donation to the team’s cause.

Sharon was overwhelmed with the amount of support she was shown; “The support from my team, our shoppers, families and friends has been incredible over the past few months, helping us raise money in the lead up to the big day.

“We chose to fundraise for Macmillan as mine, and our store charity representative, Leah Spratt’s, families have been directly impacted by cancer and we have seen first-hand the support that Macmillan give. They made my family feel supported, showing compassion and care throughout the diagnosis and always went the extra mile.”

Joanne Young from Macmillan Cancer Support commented, “This donation will go such a long way to help people affected by cancer all across the country and it is so appreciated by all at Macmillan. Braving the shave is not an easy thing to do and we want to extend a huge thank you to all the staff and shoppers for taking part and donating.”

To find out more about Macmillan Cancer Support, or if you think you could Brave the Shave, visit: https://www.macmillan.org.uk/

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Consumer goods giant SHS ups profits to £17.8m

Linda Stewart — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 10:55:00 +0000

Grocery giant SHS Group increased its profits to £17.8 million last year despite a drop in sales.

Northern Ireland’s largest food and household goods business, established in 1975 by the Salters and Sloan families, said its trading year had been “incredibly challenging” as it navigated the pandemic, the continued fall-out from Brexit, and supply chain pressures.

Its turnover for the year slipped back from £655.6 million to £641.4 million.

Gross margin, a key performance indicator for the group, was 15 per cent during the period compared to 16 per cent a year earlier.

Staff numbers in 2021 increased from 1,210 to 1,271, leading to its wages bill jumping from £50.5m to £58.2m.

The seven directors at SHS were paid a combined £2,614,846 (up from £2,400,271 previously).

The highest paid of them, understood to be award-winning chief executive Elaine Birchall, had a package of £1,272,216, which is one of the biggest private sector salaries paid to any boss in the north.

A dividend of £9m was also paid to the controlling families.

SHS Group owns brands including WKD, Shloer, bottlegreen, Merrydown Cider, Crucial Sauces, Zip & Sunny Jim firelighters and Maguire & Paterson matches, and it also distributes brands including Jordans, Ryvita, Pot Noodle, Finish, Mars Drinks and Colgate.

It is also a market leader in the supply of own label herbs and spices in Britain and manufactures branded and private label condiments and sauces.

In May, founder Dr Joe Sloan stepped away from his day to day role in the company to become honorary president, with Karen Salters taking on the role of group chair.

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Country music stars Barry Kirwan and Cliona Hagan to launch new Lidl store

Linda Stewart — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 08:31:37 +0000

Lidl Northern Ireland is bringing country back for the opening of its new state-of-the-art concept store on James Street in Omagh, which will be officially unveiled by country music sensations and local celebrities, Barry Kirwan and Cliona Hagan, on Thursday 13 October.

Located at the busy junction of Dromore Road and James Street, the new-look Lidl Northern Ireland store will create 15 new retail positions and has supported a further 200 jobs during the construction and development phase. Plans to modernize and extend the store were granted approval last October by Fermanagh & Omagh District Council following an extensive community consultation.

Occupying a site of 8,029 sq. metres – including an expansive sales floor of 1,420 sq. metres – the new store will be more than twice the size of the existing James Street site, and will incorporate a 95-space car park with two electric vehicle charging points, complementary landscaping and a large warehouse.

Omagh local, country music artist and Lidl Northern Ireland team member Barry Kirwan, and Ballinderry-born singer Cliona Hagan, who made it to the final of RTE reality talent competition The All Ireland Talent Show, will officially cut the ribbon to unveil the new look Lidl Northern Ireland store and participate in a meet-and-greet with shoppers from 8am – 9am.

Speaking ahead of the new Lidl Northern Ireland store launch in Omagh, Barry said: “The opening of the new Omagh store is particularly poignant for me as Lidl Northern Ireland has been a great support for my family during the last few years, when the music and entertainment scene took a hit as a result of the pandemic and my gigs dried up.

“I took on a day job with Lidl Northern Ireland in the current Omagh store and thoroughly enjoyed the work, so am looking forward to getting back to officially open the new and improved site on James Street, and, alongside Cliona Hagan, to meet with customers on the morning.

“The store truly is a great addition to the local area, with a fantastic range of high-quality products at great value, and a real focus on supporting local, Northern Irish suppliers. There are always great opening day deals to be had as well, so I’m looking forward to getting in myself for the weekly shop on Thursday 13 October.”

Built to the retailer’s pioneering and award-winning ‘concept’ design, which prioritises sustainability, spacious, wide aisles, long tills, restrooms, employee and baby-changing facilities, customers can look forward to a modern shopping experience with an expanded product range.

The new store opening is part of Lidl Northern Ireland’s long-term plan to grow its store network to 50 by 2030 – including three new stores in Derry-Londonderry and Strabane as part of a wider £26m investment into the Northwest region – and bring its ‘Big on Quality, Lidl on Price’ proposition to more shoppers across the region.

Sales Operations Director for Lidl Northern Ireland, Gordon Cruikshanks said: “As Northern Ireland’s fastest-growing supermarket, we’re thrilled to continue moving forward confidently with our long-established plans to rejuvenate and breathe new life into our site at Omagh, where we first opened a Lidl Northern Ireland store in 2003.

“We’re delighted to confirm the new James Street opening date for Thursday 13 October, and to have Barry Kirwan and Cliona Hagan officially open the doors to our new-look store. I look forward to welcoming the 15 new members to our team and to bringing fresh, high-quality products and market-leading value to local shoppers.”

The new Lidl Northern Ireland store on James Street will open on Thursday 13^th October 2022 at 8am.

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Deliveroo launches first physical store on London’s New Oxford Street

Linda Stewart — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 08:53:25 +0000

Food delivery giant Deliveroo has launched its first bricks-and-mortar grocery store in the UK, in partnership with Morrisons, on New Oxford Street in London.

Customers at the new Deliveroo HOP store will be able to walk in to order and shop for groceries, including Morrisons’ ‘Ready to Eat’ and ‘The Best’ ranges.

The move comes as new research from Deliveroo revealed the need for convenience and availability, with around one in three dinner plans decided on the day and ingredients being bought on the way home.

The grocery store offers customers a new way to shop, enabling them to shop in-store by ordering through digital kiosks, ordering via the Deliveroo app for collection at the store, and for delivery within minutes to local residents, offices and other addresses via Deliveroo’s network of riders.

Open from 8am to 11pm, the store will offer more than 1,750 grocery items, from Morrisons ranges to store cupboard staples, snacks and dinner ingredients, with Deliveroo’s dedicated site team picking and packing the orders, ready for collection or delivery in minutes.

Eric French, chief operating officer at Deliveroo, said: “We’re opening our doors and welcoming commuters, local residents, visitors and day-trippers into our first Deliveroo high-street grocery store in the UK.

“Our New Oxford Street store promises a new way to shop for Deliveroo customers, giving them even greater flexibility and choice and should help boost the local area with nearly two thirds of shoppers saying they will visit other nearby shops as they come to shop with Deliveroo.”

Ahead of the launch of the grocery store, Deliveroo commissioned new research to understand how people shop, finding that 40% of shoppers reported buying groceries once every two to three days, bucking the age-old ‘weekly shop’ trends, while younger people champion convenience, with almost half (42%) of 18-34 year olds ranking it as the number one determining factor when purchasing groceries, while 38% of those surveyed rank price as most important.

Almost a quarter (24%) of Londoners now use rapid grocery services once a week to get their groceries, and nearly two thirds of those asked (61%) said they were likely to also visit other nearby shops while shopping for groceries.

Hannah Horsfall, head of wholesale at Morrisons, said: “The launch of Deliveroo Hop’s first bricks-and-mortar store represents another key moment in our partnership.

“The store will not only offer customers a wide choice of groceries from Morrisons but also a variety of ways to shop for them.”

Deliveroo is also expanding its partnership with Too Good To Go to the new grocery store, helping to reduce food waste by offering customers the chance to buy £15 worth of food nearing its sell-by date for the cost of £5.

The ‘Magic Bag’ can be ordered via the Too Good To Go app and will include a range of non-frozen food including own-brand products, groceries or meat and fish nearing their sell-by-date from ‘Deliveroo HOP’ grocery partners.

Deliveroo HOP first launched in September 2021 and now operates across 16 sites in the UK, France, Italy, Hong Kong and the UAE.

Its list of grocery partners continues to grow, with new and expanded partnerships with Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Co-op, ASDA and Spar, alongside Auchan in France, Esselunga in Italy, and ParknShop in Hong Kong.

Deliveroo has almost 7,000 grocery sites in the UK and Ireland, across major partners and smaller independent partners.

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SPAR NI’s 12 Deals of Christmas returns promising retailers festive basket spend spike

Linda Stewart — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 09:45:47 +0000

More than 500 SPAR, EUROSPAR, ViVO, ViVOXTRA and ViVO Essentials retailers in Northern Ireland are participating in Henderson Wholesale’s annual 12 Deals of Christmas campaign, as it returns for 2022.

The festive initiative runs from 26 September – 18 December, promising huge value deals on high demand products, including one week of double deals. Retailers taking part can be promised a significant spike in sales throughout the three months, with data from 2021 showing a 20% growth in sales from the previous year.

12 Deals of Christmas has become Henderson Wholesale’s flagship footfall and sales driving initiative for its stores, which sees the wholesaler invest around £1.7M to provide the cut price deals for retailers to offer shoppers.

Since its inception in 2016, retail sales have experienced growth of over 67% after generating over £5.9M sales in 2021.

The campaign takes on added significance this year as millions of households across Northern Ireland are feeling the effects of rising household costs, as the cost of living crisis continues to take a grip on the country.

Sara Murphy, Marketing Manager at Henderson Group says this was ever present when creating the campaign for 2022: “We have retailers in every city, town, village and community across Northern Ireland, whose shoppers rely on them to be trusted and provide value where they possibly can.

“This year we launched Mega Deals, where shoppers can take advantage of a vastly cut price, high demand product each week, which our research shows is helping shoppers with their essential shops through the week.

“Christmas is weighing heavily on consumers’ shoulders this year, so we are conscious that our deals will have quite an expectation to help towards that long shopping list for the festive season. 12 Deals comprises a total of 13 products across 12 weeks that can not only be stored away for Christmas but will also be useful for any day use in the run-up when budgeting is even tighter.”

Shoppers agree, with over 80% stating SPAR’s 12 Deals of Christmas campaign offers were better than supermarket prices*, with 71% saying the campaign would make them want to shop at SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO branded stores more often*.

Sara continued: “The direct feedback from shoppers, alongside the sharp sales growth over the past six years, shows this is a campaign that resonates and delivers for retailers. There is a deal for everyone, and the anticipation for the 2022 deals is great. We’re excited for them to land in stores in the run up to Christmas.”

Retailers will also benefit from a fully integrated marketing campaign, marking an investment of over £525,000 alone. TV ads will feature families who have gotten carried away with the deals, unable to resist a bargain, while adshels and 48-sheets will complement radio and social media activity, engaging with some of Northern Ireland’s most well-known faces.

Week one of 12 Deals of Christmas kicks off Monday 26^th September, with 10 and 12 packs of Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Fanta and Fanta Zero less than half price at £3.25. For more, visit spar-ni.co.uk.

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