Tag: Centra

Centra to open 30 new stores as part of €30m investment

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Musgraves are planning a €30m investment into their Centra convenience retail brand, with plans to open 30 new stores. The retailer also plans to revamp a further 100 existing stores. The investment is expected to create 400 jobs.

The new stores will include eight greenfield sites while the remainder will be made up of retailers looking to take on the Centra brand, according to a spokeswoman for the brand.All of the new stores will be opened by the end of this year. The newly branded Centra stores will be spread across the country. Roughly 50 percent of the new jobs created will be as a result from the opening of greenfield sites.

The Centra brand was repositioned in 2016 as part of the “continued shift by consumers for healthier options”.In the past 12 months sales of the company’s “Grab & Go” sandwich range rose by 24 percent, impulse water purchases increased by 10 percent while salad box sales reached almost €2 million.The Frank and Honest Coffee brand, performed very strongly for the retailer, contributing to sales in the hot beverages category doubling in 2017. The coffee offering is currently available in 350 Centra stores and will be available in all the new stores.

“We are very happy with our performance in 2017 in what is an extremely competitive market. Our decision to reposition Centra in response to changing consumer trends, with customers increasingly choosing healthy options, has paid dividends,” said Martin Kelleher, Centra managing director. “We are well-positioned for the future with plans to open a further 30 Centra stores in 2018, highlighting the attractiveness of the Centra brand to independent retailers,” he added.

The retailer employs over 11,000 people in Ireland and has 450 stores.

Centra to open 20 more stores employing 460 people

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

centra

Centra have announced plans to open 20 more stores over the next year. Overall, the new stores will employ 460 new workers.

The convenience store brand had a massive year in 2016, with profits of more than €1.5bn, up 3% from the previous year. This success has encouraged the brand to expand their operations. The announcement was made at the chain’s annual conference in Killarney.

The brand will continue to re-energise its store network with the aim of capitalising on the shift in convenience grocery stores towards healthier options for consumers. The chain, which competes with the BWG-owned Spar stores as well as Mace and Londis, is continuing to roll out its “Live Every Day” store design, which gives greater prominence to fruits and salad offerings.

Martin Kelleher, Managing Director of Centra, said that, in the context of Ireland’s fiercely competitive convenience sector, the shift towards more healthy options is “definitely not a fad”. He said Centra had cut shelf space normally designated for fizzy drinks in favour of water sales, and have also tweaked the recipes for its baked in-store bread to reflect changing customer tastes, which has boosted sales by 10%.Sales of salad boxes are up 80%, while the range of fruits and other healthier options have been extended under the Live Every Day scheme.

Meanwhile, sales of in-store hot coffee have risen to €5 million a year across its network since Centra introduced its Frank and Honest brand, which was developed in-house. The chain will also accelerate the rollout of its Frank and Honest brand. It is currently available in 260 out of 450 Centra stores. This number will increase to 330 by the end of March.centra

Centra to open 16 new stores // Sainsbury’s to buy Argos owner Home Retail.

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Centra Ireland to open 16 new stores.

centraCentra announced sales of €1.54 billion throughout 2015, a 1.6% rise in sales. Centra cite the introduction of their ‘Live Well’ range as a major factor in this continued growth. The Live Well range was introduced across stores in July 2015 and spreads across their fresh food offerings, highlighting the nutritional benefits in products. Centra, which is owned by The Musgrave Group plans to invest a further €16million across 2016, with 16 new stores and 480 new jobs.

 

Sainsbury’s agrSainsburysee to buy Home Retail for £1.3 billion

In a deal that will combine two of the UK’s biggest retailers, it has been announced that J Sainsbury have agreed to buy Home Retail Group for £1.3 billion. The grocery giant had made an initial approach for Home Retail, who own high street retailer Argos back in November 2015. The deal was rejected and negotiations had stalled until a new deal and price was announced.

The acquisition would be Sainsbury’s biggest ever and mean 800 Argos Stores would be under Sainsbury ownership. The deal is an effort to fight back against competition and online discount merchants, where efficient distribution has been the cornerstone to winning a majority market. The acquisition will mean a vastly expanded delivery network for Sainsbury’s who began introducing Argos outlets into supermarkets last year. Buying Home Retail will also allow Sainsburys to better utilise store space, a problem which it has faced across approx. 25% of stores. This underutilised space will be filled with non-food, clothing and in-store concessions