Business in bloom!

Since revamping Centra Enniskerry in March, retailers

Fiona and Ken O’Connor have seen their 1,600 sq ft store located at the gateway of County Wicklow aka “The Garden of Ireland” flourish. Gillian Hamill reports self-serve unit, which Fiona says has proved a real hit with customers stopping off for dinner on their way home As she enthusiastically affirms:“They’re delicious chickens I have to say!”

Centra’s salads have proved another success for the store, with customers able to pick up tasty combinations ranging from Butternut Quinoa Salad to Strawberry, Wild Rocket and Goats Cheese Salad and Thai Chicken Salad, to name just a few – from the ready-to-go fridge “People are getting more health conscious,” says Fiona,“so it’s great to have that option for them, and Centra are always bringing out new combinations.We get a lot of cyclists in at the weekends, so they’d be popular with them We’ve got picnic benches outside on the forecourt, so they can grab-and-go and enjoy a tasty and healthy lunch option.”

Indeed, with Enniskerry being known as the gateway to Wicklow,‘The Garden of Ireland’, the O’Connors are keen to showcase everything this charming village and its surrounds has to offer tourists.“We created a map on one of our noticeboards, highlighting all the local points of interest such as the Powerscourt Waterfall, Powerscourt Golf Club, and Avoca, and their distance from the store, ” says Fiona.“I know Google Maps is there, but sometimes it’s nice to just have an oldfashioned point of reference” – a nice, personalised touch within the shop!

Best sellers in-store

Feel-good factor is at the core of Centra’s brand ethos, encapsulated in relatable messaging such as“Feel Good, Choose Community” and“Shop Smart, Feel Good”. It’s also very much the vibe of retailers Fiona and Ken O’Connor, who radiate warmth and optimism, speaking to ShelfLife after carrying out a full revamp of Centra Enniskerry in Co. Wicklow – one of three stores within the O’Connors’ portfolio - earlier this year.

At the time of our interview in late May, the O’Connors who joined Centra in September 2022, had yet to introduce their final new addition to the store; a Donnybrook Fair concept offering a premium range of ready-to-go meals and treats. Nevertheless, the overall refurbishment, which showcases Centra’s latest design concept, had already generated impressive results, with total store sales up 15% since its completion in March. This is despite major waterworks having been underway beside the store for months, with the result that one of Enniskerry’s entry roads had been closed since February; making the store’s double digit increase all the more impressive.

Deli delights

The Deli is currently the strongest performing category within the 1,600 sq ft store, with sales up by 40% since March. By expanding the Deli and introducing a selection of hot self-service foods, this has capitalised on the evening-time opportunity; allowing customers to purchase hot food options later in the day after the Deli has closed By installing a rotisserie oven, scrumptious Irish chicken can be purchased from the

Other popular additions to the store include Frank and Honest Coffee; with the store’s two-machine unit proving continuously busy Moo’d Irish Ice Cream is another strong performer:“It doesn’t matter whether it’s raining or not, the Irish love their ice cream!” attests Fiona. Friday afternoons are particularly busy and the O’Connors have their own theory on why this is case: “We think maybe it’s the parents deciding on a little afternoon treat for their kids; as a special Friday treat. ”

The Off-Licence is another high performer in-store During the revamp, the O’Connors expanded this department and installed an entire wall of fridges so that all beers and refreshing summer drinks such as Aperol are all chilled and truly ready-to-go for ultimate refreshment – which as Fiona rightly points out, is a particularly important consideration as BBQ season well and truly gets into full swing.“With a dedicated area, people have space to browse,” she adds, and feedback has been positive about Centra’s‘Wines We Love’ selection, a bespoke wine collection created by wine experts, with prices of bottles starting from just from €8.

Support from Musgrave

With the revamp taking just three weeks to complete, and the shop trading throughout the entire process, efficiency was truly the name of the game. Ken and Fiona attribute this result to Centra’s support throughout, particularly that of its Regional Manager and Store Development teams.“They really helped us every step of the way, ” says Fiona.“We wanted to fit a lot into a reasonably small space, and they helped us achieve that. We’ve been involved in several revamps down through the years and I have to say this was by far the easiest.”

Revealing more about the work involved, Fiona says the Deli area was sealed off and completed first and then the flooring was installed overnight.“Everything was very smooth and Centra had fantastic signs up that a new store was coming soon, so people were excited about what was coming.” Hands-on support from the Musgrave team throughout the refurbishment also reassured the O’Connors that everything was on track. Not only did they ensure that the planograms were followed correctly but they“rolled up their sleeves and stocked the shelves themselves, and they’ve given invaluable advice”. All of which combines to reassure the retailer, that as Fiona puts it,“you never feel as if you’re on your own; the support is there. The other great thing about Centra is that they’ve given us great support when it comes to the Deli in making sure that our food safety and quality standards are being implemented and adhered too. When the HSE calls for an inspection, it gives you great peace of mind because you know the right systems are all in place.”

Next generation of retailers

This support extends to the next generation of retailers joining their family businesses.“Our son Karl has come into the business which is great, ” says Fiona.“He’s looking after Centra Foxrock and he’s in Enniskerry two days a week as well, so it’s good to know that the next generation is coming on board, and actually, with that in mind, Centra were excellent this year at bringing the younger generation of retailers together. We attended their annual retail conference in Killarney, where they facilitated an engagement session for the next generation that were going into the family business. Karl, who is 23, had a great opportunity to meet other future generation retailers in a similar position For example, he met a retailer in his 30s who is currently taking over the family business, who shared his number and useful advice “It’s great because it just means that Karl has his own contacts who he’ll feel comfortable to give a ring and say,‘should I be doing this?’,” says Fiona.“I thought it was a great initiative by Musgrave and Karl found it very informative.”

Karl is the latest retailer to carry on the family tradition which began when Ken’s parents bought a Texaco service station in Foxrock back in the seventies. Ken subsequently took over that store in the nineties with Foxrock now celebrating 50 years in business this year “We hope to do a revamp in Foxrock very shortly along with Centra,” says Fiona,“and especially as Enniskerry has gone so well, we’re very excited to do Foxrock next.”

Future-proofing the business

This is particularly important at the present time when customers in general are conscious of cost-of-living increases. On this front, the O’Connors feel they have “future-proofed” the store to“keep prices at a reasonable level”“We have introduced electronic shelfedge labels with weekly specials highlighted in red, selfservice tills for customers who don’t want to queue, energy-efficient fridges, and are introducing solar panels,” explains Fiona. They have also implemented a “point of sale cash recycling system ” which provides greater security for staff in-store Next, they will introduce segregated recycling bins to encourage shoppers to recycle where possible, including disposing of Frank and Honest’s fully compostable cups. By joining Centra’s energy price plan, they were also able to see in fine detail where electricity was being used and cut back usage where possible

“Overall, we try to make each visit as nice an experience as possible for the customer, ” sums up Fiona. While the O’Connors are“the first port of call” for customers coming from the Dublin direction, they are likewise happy to have a cohort of loyal customers who regularly visit the store from the village.

“While our store is located in a service station, we very much see ourselves as a neighbourhood Centra,” says Fiona.“We would have a lot of regular customers who we would know by name; they come in greeting our staff We have also supported the local football clubs and have paid for a defibrillator to be used within the community We try to employ as many local staff as possible, particularly the part-timers; as most of them are local to Enniskerry and so there’s very much a family feel to the store. ”

“Our customers are very important to us, so we want to be able to give them the whole package,” Fiona continues. Instead of‘fast food’, Centra Enniskerry focuses on“fresh, good quality food that you can simply nip in for”– a strategy that is paying dividends for this bustling neighbourhood hub. ■