Superquinn plans up to 15 new stores

Superquinn is to increase its number of stores by at least 50 per cent over the next three years. Superquinn is to increase its number of stores by at least 50 per cent over the next three years.

The retailer is planning to open between 10 and 15 new stores by 2010, most of which will be full-size supermarkets. However, speaking at a conference last week, Superquinn chairman Simon Burke said the openings would include a number of smaller units such as the one announced for Rathborne village in Ashtown, Dublin 15, where a new store format will be launched.

Superquinn’s owners are planning to invest €100 million in the business between now and 2010 to fund the expansion. Existing stores will be renovated, while new stores will open in Cork and Galway.

‘‘We’re in a hurry, so we need space,” said Burke.

Since Burke opened the first revamped store in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, meat counter sales have increased by 50 per cent year on year. ‘‘Superquinn is famous for service - it’s at the core of how the Quinn family built the brand,” said Burke. ‘‘When it began to drift and go slightly astray - and it’s fair to say that it was a bit complacent - it became ill-prepared for when the market tightened and the discounters arrived.

‘‘It started to try and compete with them, which was the wrong thing to do. There was no need to do it and it began to go down a slippery slope.” Burke said decisions about central distribution systems and computers hadn’t helped. He also revealed that the availability of free parking had had a major impact on store turnover.

In Carlow, shoppers previously had to pay €1.80 for two hours’ parking, but Superquinn agreed to pay the fee for shoppers. Sales had risen by 12 to 15 per cent since then, said Burke. Key factors in store selection by Superquinn are the catchment population, access and parking, the size of the available space, the number of competitors in the area, the age of the centre, and the sales that an existing store will lose if another one opens.

Source: sbpost.ie