The retailer has announced it will introduce chilled and frozen sections in around half its stores in Northern Ireland by the end of next month and has already trialled the new ranges in its Cookstown, Armagh and Lisnagelvin shops over the past six months.

Poundland said it will now roll it out into 13 more stores by the end of November. The retailer has around 33 stores in Northern Ireland and also owns the Dealz chain in the Republic.

Country manager Olivia McLoughlin told Neighbourhood Retailer that the budgeter will be rolling out its chilled and frozen offering into the Republic of Ireland in 2022 as well as trialling other new products, services and ranges.

“From a frozen foods point of view we recently acquired the Fultons – they’re frozen food specialists who are helping power our rapid entry into that category.

The new ranges will include ready meals, pies and pizzas, as well as frozen desserts and ice-cream.

The chilled and frozen sections have already been installed in around 200 GB stores over the past two years. Poundland moved to acquire frozen food supplier Fulton Foods in October 2020.

Olivia McLoughlin has said that Poundland has already opened a number of stores across Ireland and more are in the pipeline.

“It’s not just about store openings, it’s also about the transformation of our offer for customers.”

Project Diamond

The rollout is known as Project Diamond, and Poundland has described the £25 million investment in chilled and frozen as part of the biggest transformation in its 30-year history.

Olivia McLoughlin says that the chain never changed its pricing during the pandemic.

“While others in retail who maybe operate with a high/low strategy have removed promotions etc, we run on set pricing. This means we’ve been able to maintain our prices and offer great value to all of our customers which has been a great thing to be able to do during the pandemic.”

The company is also introducing its PEP&CO clothing and home ranges to stores that don’t already have them.

“We are also looking to move to towns where we know there is demand for us, We are looking at towns where we have a Dealz or Poundland store, but we don’t have PEP&CO,” she said.

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While Poundland is currently trialling e-commerce in some parts of the UK, she insists that what the chains offer will always require a physical presence.

“”From a discount retailing point of view, there will always be a place for bricks and mortar stores and we are certainly very proud of ours,” Olivia says, in an in-depth interview with Neighbourhood Retailer.

“In the UK, Poundland is trialling e-commerce in limited postcode areas so we can learn, but our focus is around how we make our stores bigger and better, and places where customers want to spend more time.”

Marmite

Oliva describes retail as ‘Marmite’ and says she has never wanted to do anything else. 

“I love being in a business which has so much energy and pace and due to the transformation, it feels like a young and vibrant business and only on the cusp of what we can achieve,” she says.

“It is also exciting to me that, while the Dealz brand was born in Ireland, it now operates across Europe, currently trading from over 200 locations.

“Retail is like Marmite, you either love it or hate it and certainly I have loved it since my first day. I have no aspirations to do anything else.”

Olivia says the ‘people culture’ she absorbed in her previous roles in Dixons Carphone and Claire’s Accessories fits nicely with Dealz and Poundland where people have always been at the forefront of who they are.

“We look at how we incorporate people-led and service-led agendas, which historically may not have been what our customers would necessarily expect from discount retailers,” she says.

That people-focused approach served cash strapped customers well during the pandemic, she says.

“It provided an opportunity to continue to offer great value to our customers who have always been price conscious but found themselves in a difficult situation due to the pandemic,” she says.

“It’s important to point out that we never changed our pricing. While others in retail who maybe operate with a high/low strategy have removed promotions etc, we run on set pricing.

“This means we’ve been able to maintain our prices and offer great value to all of our customers which has been a great thing to be able to do during the pandemic.”

Investment

The chain recently announced a €20 million investment over three years that will create more than 500 jobs across Ireland and is bringing its PEP&CO clothing and home ranges to stores that don’t currently have them.

Its chilled and frozen ranges are being rolled out in Northern Ireland and into the Republic in 2022.

“At no time during the pandemic have we stood still and we have no intention of standing still in the future, “ Olivia says.

“Our business has really evolved based on what our customers are telling us. We stay close to our customers, speak to them regularly and react to their needs.”

Read the full interview with Olivia HERE.

The post Discount retail will always have a place for bricks and mortar stores, says Poundland country manager Olivia McLoughlin first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.