Mace store profi le: Excellent

An integral part of the local community, the team at Grandon’s Mace, Glanmire, Co. Cork, pride themselves on achieving the highest fresh food standards and friendly customer service, which have now all been capped off with an impressive new look for the store

Retailer Martin Grandon is delighted with customers’ reaction to his revamped store

Retailer Martin Grandon and team at Mace Glanmire place a big emphasis on providing friendly and helpful customer service to their shoppers Aoife Ryan of the BWG fresh foods team worked closely with the store’s deli manager, Dimitri, to provide the best food offering possible for customers to enjoy

Warm welcome at Glanmire

Martin Grandon is delighted to see customers respond so positively to the new look of his store Mace Glanmire, after undergoing a store revamp at the end of last year. Since the Mace store opened its doors in 2009, it has become an integral part of the local community in Glanmire, Co. Cork.

Boom in business

The family-run business is fortunate to rarely see a quiet day in their store. Not far from the store is Dunkettle (for those not from Cork, the Dunkettle Interchange is a major road junction in east Cork City, forming a junction between the M8, N25 and the N40). Fortuitously for Grandon, 200 new homes have sprung up by the Dunkettle Interchange, with a further 800 homes due to be built and Mace Glanmire is the closest convenience store to these new housing developments. Aside from the new residents of Dunkettle, the store has also seen a major influx of workers from these housing development sites such as builders, architects, and engineers, who drop into the store daily to pick up their breakfast, lunch and many other items.

To keep up with demand due to this surge in business and to cater for extra footfall, Grandon decided to expand his store and undertake a design revamp. It is the second revamp for the Texaco forecourt store with its last revamp taking place over five years ago.

STORE PROFILE Retailers: Martin and Maria Grandon Address: Grandon’s Mace, Dunkettle, Glanmire, Co. Cork, T45 RD78 Opening hours: Open 24 hours every day

Convenience is key

Despite being technically classed as a small supermarket, Grandon asserts that he is primarily targeting those looking to “park their car, run in and grab a few items on the go, head back to their car and they’re on their way”. With that in mind, Mace Glanmire has also revamped the deli and pride themselves on having tasty food that is made with fresh ingredients and then making the ordering process quick for customers. “We know our customers are busy people,” says Grandon, “so we don’t want to keep them waiting for long periods of time. We also got great assistance from Aoife Ryan of the BWG fresh foods team; Aoife worked closely with our deli manager, Dimitri, to ensure that they had the best food offering possible for customers to enjoy.”

Aside from making the deli ordering process as efficient as possible, Mace Glanmire have also looked at ways to respond to the increasing demand for a broader off-licence selection for their customers. With more and more people dining and enjoying drinks at home since the emergence of Covid-19, aside from expanding the size of its off-licence, the

Mace’s own ice scream proposition, ‘I Scream’ For Ice Cream has a vibrant appearance to match its scrumptious flavours

team at Mace Glanmire have adapted with the times and trends by ensuring their offering remains extremely competitive. They increased their wine selection as they noticed a continued increase in wine sales versus spirits for example. “This is likely due to people associating drinking wine with being at home, as opposed to cocktails for example, they would more so be something people would drink at a party or gathering,” suggests Grandon.

A relationships business

Maria Grandon, Martin’s wife, also helps with the running of the store. The family also have ties in the car industry, with their son Ken Grandon, running a local car dealership that the family own.

“We are delighted to be able to offer so much employment locally,” he says. “We often have college students on our staff who may stay with us for a semester or two before they head off to travel for the summer. Then we have some long-time Mace Glanmire veterans who have been with us for years. Our staff numbers vary depending on the time of year, but one thing is certain, we ensure everyone who works here enjoys their time with us, and we have no doubt that they do as we often see staff returning to work with us again.”

Providing a pleasant in-store atmosphere is also what seems to ensure repeat business and loyalty in their customer base. Grandon, ably assisted by manager Razi and his staff place a big emphasis on providing friendly and helpful customer service to their shoppers. Without doubt they live up to the Mace promise of “going the extra smile”.

Additionally, the Grandon family, Martin in particular, is known to locals from their retail and car businesses, having a reputable name amongst the locals which certainly seems to give the store a competitive edge. Mace Glanmire in turn likes to offer support to the local community through its sponsorship of the local GAA club, Glanmire Football Club and the local boxing club, Riverstown Boxing Club.

Incredible BWG support

“I don’t think this project would have happened only for Robert Gough, retail development manager at BWG,” says Grandon. “He was a fantastic help through the entire revamp and project-managed the operation from start to finish in such an efficient way that we were able to successfully continue trading.

“Another important shoutout and thank you Mace Glanmire would like to give is to Liam Attridge, Mace regional manager and Colin Brady, Mace retail operations advisor,” he adds. “We are always so impressed with the support BWG offers our store on an ongoing basis.”

Mace Glanmire has seen sales increase along with its customer base – with everything going so well, are there any challenges the store foresees? “Recruitment has certainly been a tricky issue for us this year,” shares Grandon. “We are happy that Mace has put together some great recruitment marketing materials and we have started to advertise positions in our store. Due to Covid-19, businesses across the nation have found recruitment a struggle. We hope that as we see Covid-19 ease this year, we will see some positive changes in that area. Overall, we are in a very fortunate position for our business to be doing so well year on year, so may more of that continue in 2022 and beyond!” n

Grandon’s Mace is bright and airy with a wide bakery selection and Bewley’s coffee concession leading to the deli

“We know our customers are busy people,” says Grandon, “so we don’t want to keep them waiting for long periods of time.”

The team pride themselves on offering tasty food that is made with fresh ingredients and then making the ordering process quick for customers The team at Mace Glanmire increased their wine selection within the off-licence after noticing a continued increase in wine sales