As a whole, Henderson Group will invest £47M in new products, ranges and infrastructure in 2022, with retailers supported by a £5.3M marketing strategy for the year.

EUROSPAR Clough was the final Henderson Retail store to open last year, pushing the retailer through the 100-store milestone to 101.

In total, 28 new company-owned and independent SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO stores and supermarkets opened across towns and villages in 2021, with the retailer and wholesaler responding to shopper demands, and using local data to build new stores and undergo refurbishments with local shoppers’ missions in mind.

Mark McCammond, Retail Director at Henderson Group commented: “At the end of 2020, we made a commitment to further invest in high quality community retailing across Northern Ireland to further meet the changed needs of our retailers and shoppers. Henderson Retail completed 20 significant projects in 2021, including the building and expansion of EUROSPAR supermarkets.

“Not only are we opening more large-format EUROSPAR supermarkets which provide market leading special offers and campaigns all year round, including matching over a thousand prices of products to Tesco, but we’re expanding the footprint and offering of our smaller format brands too. We have around 26 significant projects in the pipeline for 2022, plus four further new builds to commence that will open in 2023.”

The ViVO brand experienced double digit growth of 10% last year after the opening of 12 new stores, leading to an increase of 5% in retail sales.

Paddy Doody, Sales and Marketing Director at Henderson Group says independent retailers are embracing the opportunities their brands bring them locally: “Independent retailers know what their local shoppers want and that is to stay local and buy local, which they can provide thanks to our robust brand offering.

“Last year saw the UK’s largest SPAR store open in Castlederg with experienced SPAR retailers, Charlie and Ruth Hamilton at the helm. It is a fresh foods superstore and new flagship store for the Hamilton’s who operate two other stores in the Mid-Ulster area. The impact the network of our company-owned and independent stores has on the industry is powerful and we have also experienced a record number of retailers converting from other convenience brands to SPAR, EUROSPAR or ViVO brands in the past year.”

2021 also marked the 60^th anniversary of SPAR in Northern Ireland, and the Group honoured many of their retailers who were also marking business milestones throughout the year, including McGinn’s SPAR in Killyclogher which also opened in 1961 and rebranded as a SPAR ten years later.

Other retailers who celebrated milestone anniversaries included Lecky’s VIVOXTRA for 50 years, Clarke’s ViVO in Rostrevor for 40 years and Gilroy’s SPAR in Garrison for 30 years.

Meanwhile, the 300^th SPAR store in Northern Ireland was opened in Coagh by Andrew Davis and Graham Johnston, their sixth to open within the business partners’ SPAR 77 Retail group.

Henderson Wholesale now supplies to over 500 stores across Northern Ireland, and continues to provide an unrivalled offering of locally sourced produce and products from the fields and farms of local suppliers.

Paddy Doody added: “Our long-term local sourcing strategy has allowed us to take a strong advantage against the multiples who are suffering with delays and shortages due to the NI protocol. Over 75% of our fresh food is sourced from local farmers and suppliers, which is not only better for the environment in keeping food miles low, but also for our economy to help local producers develop, expand and provide local employment.”

“Early 2022 will see SPAR’s Joy of Living Locally strategy roll out, with the first of its new brand pillars – Value on your Doorstep – launching this month, which very much builds upon the foundations of which we operate as retailers, to provide high quality, local produce at value prices for our shoppers.”

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EUROSPAR Glenavy Village replaces the former SPAR store on the same site, and has almost doubled in size, offering locals a huge variety of fresh and locally sourced food for now and later, and has been described as a dramatically new supermarket experience, right in the heart of the community with up to 70 car-parking spaces.

Essential services have also been retained including the Post Office branch which will continue to offer a range of everyday services, easily accessible for locals.

With the additional jobs created with the build, 35 local staff now work at the store, which is managed by David McFall, who has more than 14 years of retailing experience behind him.

“EUROSPAR Glenavy Village brings a local, supermarket shopping experience to build on the busy and popular SPAR which once stood on the site,” he said.

“We have built this store with the local shoppers’ missions in mind, meaning that those in Glenavy are primarily either looking for a snack, breakfast or lunch to go, or want to stock up with fresh foods and groceries for two or three days.

“We are catering to our neighbours who want reassurance that they are shopping locally, buying locally sourced products and ranges and can handily pop back in if they need to top up that shop in a couple of days’ time without having to go too far.”

The supermarket experience includes Tesco Price Match, an initiative from EUROSPAR which aims to price match big brand products to bring even more value to local shoppers. More than a thousand products are included, meaning shoppers can access top quality and lower supermarket prices on their favourite brands without having to go out of town.

The food-to-go offering has been given a major revamp and now sits under Henderson’s dailyDeli brand, offering an enhanced range of hot and cold food all freshly made in store daily.

“The dailyDeli is a fantastic food-to-go experience, bringing a full range of meal deals, plus vegetarian and vegan products and ranges to takeaway or enjoy in our seating area in-store,” David said.

“We have a Mauds Ice Cream counter, the all-new Barista Bar coffee machines, serving our popular Barista Bar brews plus new luxury hot chocolate and flat whites, plus our Kidz Zone offers Ice budz frozen drinks and Freal so our little shoppers can enjoy a fun experience when shopping too.”

Supplying a host of local fresh foods is a top priority for the supermarket, and that extends to the Brian Price Quality Meats and Butchery concession, with all meat farmed locally. The serve-over counter team is headed up by Damien McVeigh, who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to offer advice and ideas to shoppers for their products, adding that extra sense of locality and customer service.

More than 30 bays of fresh produce give shoppers an outstanding choice of fruit, veg, meat and poultry, all sourced and supplied by local producers via Henderson Wholesale’s fresh team.

The SPAR Bakery range of freshly baked treats and breads sits alongside own-brand ranges including enjoy local, The Greengrocer and The CHEF – Henderson’s handmade range of meals created by its local team of cooks headed up by Chef Carl Johannesson.

Mark McCammond, Retail Director at Henderson Group which owns EUROSPAR in Northern Ireland, said: “With EUROSPAR Glenavy Village, we are bringing a supermarket shopping experience with a range of fresh and local food and brands, at great prices which the local community won’t have had on their doorsteps before.

“The new look, feel and choice of products in the shop has been considered for the local shopper, whether they’re popping in for something for tonight’s tea or stocking up for the next few days. And they can be assured they’re getting the best value, with over 1,000 products in-store price matched with Tesco.

“It’s fantastic to see the supermarket bring such a unique proposition and services to the area, including the three-pump MAXOL forecourt alongside 70 parking spaces.

“The team will also continue their community outreach from the former SPAR store, to support local schools and organisations.”

EUROSPAR Glenavy Village has sponsored the Ballymacrickett Primary School football team’s new kits, and is also fundraising towards a new sensory room for the school. The supermarket’s staff and shoppers will also fundraise for EUROSPAR’s charity partner, Cancer Fund for Children and has raised almost £4,000 for the organisation, and the store’s former charity partner, Marie Curie, so far this year.

“Not only will the team at EUROSPAR Glenavy Village deliver for the whole community but will give back to those who need it most throughout Northern Ireland,” Mark said.

Caption: Members of the Glenavy Youth Project helped mark the official opening of EUROSPAR Glenavy Village, joined by EUROSPAR Glenavy Village’s Community Champion, Dylan McKenna and customer Advisor, Eimear McKnight

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The national awards ceremony is held in the highest regards by the industry across the UK, and local retailers in Northern Ireland took home some of the biggest accolades of the night including Store Team of the Year, Forecourt Retailer of the Year and Independent Retailer of the Year.

This year’s ceremony was back in full force for 2021, and shone a light on the fortitude of the sector and how retailers responded in strength and community spirit to the impact of COVID-19.

Henderson Retail

Henderson Retail brought home four wins throughout the company-owned categories, plus four highly commended nods. SPAR Malone Road was victorious in both the Forecourt Retailer of the Year and Store Team of the Year categories, with EUROSPAR Victoria Road in Carrickfergus picking up Post Office Retailer of the Year while Nigel Walker was presented with the Store Manager of the Year award for his work at EUROSPAR Hardford Link in Newtownards.

For the independents, Team Mulkerns brought home another hat-trick, fresh off their previous three wins at the Convenience Awards earlier this month. The Newry-based EUROSPAR continued their winning streak at the Retail Industry Awards, picking up Best Use of Technology, Food-to-Go Retailer of the Year and Store Team of the Year.

Other independent successes included Lynch’s EUROSPAR in Derry/Londonderry for Independent Retailer of the Year, Campbell’s EUROSPAR, Banbridge for Chilled Retailer of the Year and JC Stewart’s in Magherafelt for Fresh Produce Retailer of the Year.

Highly Commended

Four highly commended nods were received by the independent retailers with Lynch’s recognised in the Chilled Retailer of the Year category, both JD Hunter’s and Morrison’s VIVOXTRA in Saintfield shared the highly commended crown for Fresh Produce Retailer of the Year and Chris McClure of JD Hunter’s took home the highly commended Store Manager of the Year award.

Mark McCammond, Retail Director at Henderson Group says the wins show great resilience from their network of stores in the past year in particular; “Never has local retailing been more important than when our stores were trusted to provide not only safe places for shoppers to get their essentials during lockdown, but also ensure shelves were stocked.

“Our Henderson Retail stores have worked incredibly hard to provide a benchmark for safety, value and choice for shoppers and the judges have recognised the lengths we’ve gone to, to provide essential products and services from our forecourts to our post offices. Congratulations to all the winners from this prestigious ceremony.”

Swept the Board

Paddy Doody, Sales and Marketing Manager at Henderson Group added; “Our independent retailers have once again swept the board at a national, UK-wide awards ceremony, pushing the standards of independent retailing even higher. These retailers have had a very challenging 18-months, and none have shown greater support to their communities – as evidenced in picking up both company owned and independent awards for Store Team of the Year.

“Awards like these are not just for the glory but put retail excellence on the map – and that pin is very firmly in Northern Ireland. Congratulations to all the winners and highly commended teams and stores.”

The Retail Industry Award winners were selected by a panel of esteemed and experienced names in the industry. The Awards, now in their 26^th year are a celebration of all that is great about the UK grocery retail sector. The 2021 winners were revealed at a gala ball ceremony at the Brewery in London on 21 September 2021. A full list of winners can be found here.

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The new build is 50% larger than the old shop and brings 10 further jobs to the site that has been serving the local community for many years, alongside a range of new services and vastly enhanced product offering now featuring almost 6,000 lines.

EUROSPAR Newcastle, operated by Henderson Retail, opened this summer after a 10-month build with data driven design keeping the local shopper and visitors to the town’s specific mission in mind; to pick up fresh, local food to go for now and groceries for later.

Hero suppliers

To meet such demand, the supermarket is made up of a host of hero suppliers from The Home Bakery in Rathfriland, to Kilkeel’s Cunningham’s Butchery, which now has an extended range of locally farmed meats, and Co. Down’s The Shelbourne Bakery. These suppliers sit alongside locally sourced and produced products from Henderson Wholesale including SPAR Bakery, The CHEF, enjoy local and The Greengrocer’s to make up a variety of choice for the weekly shop, a ‘staycationer’ picking up the essentials and for those just passing through.

Mark McCammond, Retail Director at Henderson Group says local is at the heart of everything in the new supermarket; “We know local shoppers in Newcastle are looking for a shopping solution that can bring them high quality fresh local meat and produce plus a range of great value ingredients to make meals over the next few days and fresh food to enjoy while on the go from our dailyDeli and Barista Bar coffee counters

“The shopper demographic is a mix of locals and those visiting this destination hotspot. EUROSPAR Newcastle caters to such demand with its range of fresh food and big brands and shoppers can be assured these products are sourced, farmed and made locally.”

Big brands

In addition to the range available, over 1,000 big brand products have been price matched to Tesco, bringing even more value at a local level.

Lisa McKee, Store Manager added; “We are at the heart of the community here in Newcastle and always have been. With the bigger store, we’re able to offer even more goods and services to our shoppers, many of whom have been loyal customers for years, and we’re delighted to also provide even more local jobs for those in the area to join our thriving team.

“It was very fitting to have one of our longest serving members of staff, Sean Brannigan, open the new supermarket where the old SPAR once stood. We’re proud of our community links, and Sean is a star player on the Shimna Stars Special Olympics Basketball team, the club which we support through sponsorship.

“We also sponsor our neighbours, Bryansford GAC and our community rep, Collette Valentine who engages with local clubs and organisations such as Ark Community Gardens, has recently launched the drive to fundraise and install a defibrillator outside the store. It will be available for the local community 24/7.

Fundraising

“We are also fundraising for our new charity partner, Cancer Fund for Children which is wonderful as Daisy Lodge is right on our doorstep. We have wonderful opportunities to ramp up all we can do for such a worthy organisation in the coming years, alongside our continued support of Foyle Search & Rescue.

“Our visitors can stay up to date with all of our community news on our designated lobby screens, which also showcase the area of outstanding beauty we are lucky enough to call home with EUROSPAR Newcastle”

EUROSPAR Newcastle is open 7am – 11pm, seven days a week. Alongside a six pump BP forecourt is a 41-space car park, ATM,  while inside, complimentary WIFI and charging points within the in-store seating area, customer toilets and self-scan checkouts, all adding up bring an improved shopping experience to the town.

The post New build supermarket – an innovative shopping experience for local community first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.