Poundland - Neighbourhood Retailer

Discount retailer pilots new rewards app in its 41 Northern Ireland stores

Caroline Rainey — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 11:11:41 +0000

It was ‘app-y hour all day long at Poundland when shoppers at its 41 Northern Ireland stores were the first in the country to take advantage of its new ‘Poundland Perks’ app.

The new Poundland Perks app launched on Friday 17^th November and extends a small-scale pilot that’s been running at its four Isle of Wight stores.

And to celebrate, the retailer’s mascot, Poundhound was on hand at CastleCourt store in Belfast from 10am to ‘twerk for perks’.

Poundland Perks, which is available in both the Apple and Google Play stores, brings new technology to Poundland as it expands its digital services.

On the Isle of Wight the app has been a hit with almost 10% of the island’s population downloading it, and by rolling it out to Northern Ireland Poundland will gain even greater customer feedback ahead of an expected wider UK launch next year.

The new app will offer points and exclusive discounts only available to users and the opportunity to spend and earn as shoppers receive points on purchases which can be redeemed for vouchers.

SHAPING TECHNOLOGY

Poundland regional manager for Northern Ireland, Maggie Jardine said it’s exciting times for the retailer as it continues to expand, both in terms of store openings and now its digital presence.

“We’re delighted that customers at our 41 stores across Northern Ireland will be some of the first to have access to Poundland Perks – we’re excited about giving them our customers even more ways to shop and access to the amazing value we offer,” said Maggie Jardine.

“We’ve been listening to our customers and we know the app will be popular. The Northern Ireland pilot will really help us shape the technology, so it completely meets the needs of our customers.

“It’s really clever too, Poundland Perks users will automatically have their discounts applied at the check-outs so the shopping process is simple.”

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Poundland owner accelerates store expansion plans

Caroline Rainey — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 12:05:10 +0000

Pepco, the owner of Poundland, is “further accelerating” its store expansion programme following an “encouraging performance” at the start of the financial year.

The discount retailer, which also owns the Dealz chain of stores in Ireland, revealed its revenues had increased 17.4% to 4.8 billion euro in the year ending 30^th September 2022.

Reporting their “strong” strategic progress, the company enjoyed “record new store openings” with 516 net new stores opened, excluding the closure of 59 Fultons stores, and the renewal of 727 stores.

Pepco Group also owns the Dealz chain of stores in Ireland

The company, which has 33 outlets in Northern Ireland, said it is “committed” to accelerating its profitable store roll-out programme, with an increased focus in Western Europe and an extensive refit programme in Central and Eastern Europe.

Commenting on the results, Trevor Masters, CEO Pepco Group said: “Despite industry-wide short-term challenges, Pepco Group delivered another year of good progress and resilient trading performance, driven by our successful and proven strategy.

“The expertise and dedication of our colleagues are central to the success of our strategy to be bigger, better, cheaper and simpler. We remain committed to growing and supporting our people.”

In the long term, Pepco Group’s ambition is to operate approximately 20,000 stores across Europe and the company believes it can “further accelerate store growth” while also maintaining “compelling and consistent store economics”.

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Poundland to open in Rushmere next month

Caroline Rainey — Thu, 24 Nov 2022 13:13:18 +0000

Poundland have revealed they will open a new store at Rushmere shopping centre in Craigavon in time for Christmas.

The new store, which will be located in the former Menary’s unit in the retail park, will create 32 new jobs.

With an opening date of Saturday 10^th December – a date the retailer is calling ‘Super Saturday’ – Poundland will open a total of eight new stores, relocations and extensions throughout the UK that day.

The new Rushmere store will cover 14,500 sq ft over two floors and comes as a further boost for the Craigavon shopping centre with Primark set to open its doors there on Friday 16^th December.

All Poundland stores offer a wide selection of everyday essentials across the grocery market, as well as health and beauty products, entertainment, stationery and craft ranges, encouraging customers to do more of their shopping in one visit.

The new Rushmere store will also include a wider range of chilled and frozen food along with the PEP&CO clothing range and homewares.

Earlier this year it was revealed that Rushmere had been sold for more than £56m to LCP, a property business which is new to the Northern Ireland market.

The property was marketed by commercial property agents Savills and CBRE NI in what they had anticipated would be the biggest investment of the year.

Rushmere Shopping Centre and Retail Park is home to some of the UK and Ireland’s most well-known retailers, and the news of Poundland’s arrival will continue to enhance its retailing appeal.

Poundland Chief Operating Officer, Austin Cooke, said: “This investment in towns and cities up and down the country shows our commitment to bringing shoppers more choice and amazing value, just when they need it most.”

Ben Wall, Poundland director of Property Portfolio, said: “It’s been a tremendous task to get these stores ready to open in time for Christmas and it’s a reflection of the dedication and hard work of all the teams involved at Poundland.

“We also owe a big thank you to the contractors who’ve worked tirelessly to help us get the stores ready and to the property agents who have been busy behind the scenes to keep the timetable on track,” he added.

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Poundland outlines festive plans including extra support for staff

Caroline Rainey — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 15:58:38 +0000

Poundland has set out details of Christmas plans – including recruiting temporary colleagues, the days when it will be closed and extra support for its 18,000 people in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

The discount retailer confirmed it planned to take on around 1,200 seasonal colleagues to work in stores across the UK and Ireland in the run up to this Christmas.

The temporary shop floor roles will end on Christmas Eve, though some colleagues may be taken on permanently where roles are available.

Simon Wells, Poundland & Dealz’ people director said: “The extra recruits will help us make sure that our stores are great places to work and shop at the busiest time of year.”

In addition to Christmas Day, Poundland confirmed it had told its colleagues back in September that for the third year in a row all its stores will be closed on St Stephen’s Day and New Year’s Day to give colleagues a well-deserved break.

Customers can check their local store opening times over the Christmas period on the Poundland website at https://www.poundland.co.uk/store-finder/.

As a thank-you to all 18,000 members of the Poundland and Dealz team for all their hard work, they will each receive a €30 voucher in the Republic of Ireland to spend in store between December and January and that their regular colleague discount will double from 10 per cent to 20 per cent during November.

“We really appreciate how hard colleagues work during the year and are closing the stores on the extra days over Christmas and New Year, so they enjoy a well-deserved break with friends and family,” added Simon.

“The vouchers and extra discounts are our way of saying thank-you and we know they’ll be appreciated.”

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Nestlé launches new Munchies sharing bar

Linda Stewart — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 09:50:10 +0000

Amy Kendall, Munchies Brand Manager, said: “We know that Munchies fans are a passionate bunch – we always receive a tremendous reaction whenever we launch new flavours and formats from the brand. And because they taste so good, it’s not surprising that fans love to munch with their favourite people – in fact, Munchies is one of the most popular sharing bags we sell here at Nestlé Confectionery.

“That’s why we are especially excited to introduce our latest innovation – a brand new sharing bar. We’ve set the bar high on this one – it’s got soft, gooey caramel, it’s got crunchy biscuit pieces and the whole lot is encased in a smooth milk chocolate shell. In other words, our new Munchies bar is a bit of a taste sensation!”

The 87g bar (RRP £1) is available now from a variety of supermarkets, convenience, and value stores including Iceland, B&M, Home Bargains, Poundland and Spar.

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