Gala store profile: Brian Egan

Brian Egan, owner and operator of Egan’s Gala and Applegreen Service Station, Dunmore, Co. Galway speaks to Fionnuala Carolan about his freshly revamped business and his ambitious plans including the possibility of utilising hydropower and a novel business venture to be unveiled in the new year

Retailer Brian Egan with his partner and store manager, Serena Fylan

Driving forwards

When times get tough, Brian Egan comes out fighting. Rather than cutting back hours during Covid he made the brave choice to extend them when all his competitors were choosing to close early. “When I see people cutting their hours, I think that’s the wrong way to go. Bring in more people, do more things,” he says. He is always looking to improve the offering and keeps his business in tip top shape with attention to detail in all areas and says he gets as many compliments about the cleanliness of the store as he does about the superb deli. The shop benefits from a busy passing trade being on the main Galway to Roscommon road. Dunmore is a small town and with 22 staff, Egan’s Gala is the biggest employer in the town. He says he would be happy to see any new businesses come to the area even direct competition, because every light on in a small town makes a difference.

Where it all began

Egan grew up on a farm in Dunmore but at 14 left Ireland for the UK and spent some time in Australia. In 1993, when he was just 21 and living in the UK, he heard that an old garage had come up for sale in his home town so he decided to take a punt on it and moved home. “It was an old garage with kerbside pumps on it. We cleaned it up. We started selling petrol and diesel and we sold tyres and solid fuel and did puncture repairs. I ran that for a year with Texaco. In 1994 we demolished the lot and put up a new forecourt, new shop, all new pumps, new tarmac, the whole works. That was a big investment. There was money out there at the time. The oil companies were putting money into it,” he explains.

Fire

A dark day for the business came on 13 June in 2006 when a fire broke out on the premises which burned the shop to the ground. “Luckily no one was injured but the whole place had to be demolished. There was a tyre centre at the back of the old shop and a spark went into a bin and then boom. It was during the day, 1.45pm and I’ll never forget it. If it was a half hour later my two young children would have been upstairs doing their homework,” he recalls. Egan owned seven commercial units next door to the shop so as part of the rebuild from the fire, they incorporated three of these units into the old shop. “What we did was state-ofthe-art. We put three quarters of a million euro into it. We added on a new deli, new entrance and new glass everywhere. If the fire hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have considered doing what I did with the shop and I believe that things happen for a reason,” he reflects. In 2016 they joined up with Applegreen and Egan has nothing but praise for the oil company. They subsequently moved from Costcutter to Gala in 2021 and undertook a huge revamp and he is extremely impressed with Gala’s offering and support. “Everything was gutted again and replaced in this revamp. We got a brand-new kitchen from Germany and put in a seating area for 22 people and a new off-licence. We worked day and night and kept the place open over the four weeks,” he says. The hard work was acknowledged when the shop was honoured with a Gala Retail Excellence Award at the Gala Conference and Awards in September but as is his nature he is thinking of the next goal and further wins at the Gala Retail Excellence Awards are in his sights for next year.

Early riser

They say the early bird catches the worm and Egan is certainly catching the early travellers as he opens the shop himself every day at 5.30am. “We have people in for breakfast at 6am. We have a new breakfast menu which is fabulous with the likes of granola, American style pancakes, potato and black pudding hash etc and it’s going very well,” he explains. As the son of a farmer, it’s not surprising that Egan likes to be up early. He is still involved in farming and breeds Dexter cattle, regarding it as his hobby. “I spend all my time here [in the shop] and they take care of themselves so it’s more my pastime now.” It’s always been a family business and his children all worked in the shop when they were younger but are now spreading their wings. “Emmet is in New York, Hannah is in London and Pierce is in Galway on his way to Canada,” he explains. “I push them to travel. I started them all working in the shop at 12. It gives them confidence and allows them to learn how to stand up in front of a crowd.” Being a local business, they are called upon to sponsor everything in the town, and Egan is happy to oblige where he can. They recently ran an event in the local rugby club for Pieta House and fed 300 people. “We do a lot of outside catering, such as rugby club events, funerals, birthdays and christenings for up to 60 people. The norm is soup and sandwiches but we can do curries or beef stroganoff. We deliver and serve it too,” he says. This is an area he sees great growth in for the future.

Deli delights

Food is definitely the focal point of the shop and the deli is run by Deirdre Herviaux, as deli manager and Dave Geraghty as deli supervisor. They have created new breakfast and lunch menus and if they can hire one more chef they hope to extend the deli from closing at 3pm to 7pm. Egan is passionate about good food and especially about it being fresh. “With food, if it’s not fresh, throw it out and start again. I’m into the detail. We’ve changed from frozen food to fresh as much as we can. We don’t do frozen chips anymore. We make everything from scratch.” Egan’s partner Serena Fylan is the store manager and he praises her and the whole team for the seamless running of the business. “Serena has done a fantastic job with the shop and she works closely with retail operations executive, Davina Dempsey and fresh food executive, Aoife Finn from Gala and Kevin Reape. We have Paddy Conway of Tuffy’s Cash and Carry and then Edd Ryan, Daire Nolan and Caroline Corbet all from Applegreen and between them all they make up the dream team. There is great support overall. Gala and Applegreen are a brilliant combination,” he insists.

Egan’s Gala has a bright and spacious appearance

New venture

Never standing still, Egan is very excited about a new venture that should be ready to go by St Patricks Day but is reluctant to say too much as he believes he will be the first retailer to roll this out in Ireland. “We have a 40ft container fitted with LED lights and automatic doors coming and we’re going to put 60 seats outside and 20 inside. We are in planning at the moment and we hope to be open Paddy’s Day next year. I don’t want to say too much now but if it comes together we’ll do very well,” he says. Egan also reveals that he is exploring hydropower due to the fact there is a river running behind them he believes we should be utilising our natural resources wherever possible. “I’ve looked into hydropower. The planning would take over three years and we’d seemingly have to divert the river which seems ridiculous as it’s right behind us. We want to use our natural resources. It’ll take time but I’m not going to give up on it,” he says. All this investment and growth of the business is possible due to a solid crew behind him and Egan has the utmost respect for his staff and says they are like an extended family. “We look after each other. If someone’s car breaks down and they don’t have money to fix it, I will help them out. We won’t see someone stuck. They come to my house for Christmas and I go to their house for a barbecue,” he explains.

Issues

From such a positive man it’s surprising to hear him complain about anything but commercial rates are something every business has an issue with it seems. “Rates are a major problem,” he bemoans. “They are usually around €5,500 a year and the new rates came in at €16,000. I’ve disputed it and it’s now under appeal. I’ll bring it to court and I’m not afraid of that. At some point you have to fight back!” With an abundance of energy, ShelfLife imagines he is just the right man to challenge what he sees as unfair and we wish him well with this and the future of Egan’s Gala. ■