Centra store profile: Centra

With a vibrant and varied offering on display, retailer Donagh Hickey of Centra Rathmore in Co. Kerry, is offering a nextgeneration supermarket and forecourt destination, writes Gillian Hamill

Offering more in Rathmore

Retailer Donagh Hickey says Centra Rathmore places a huge emphasis on fresh, Irish produce

Not to fall guilty to the trope that is ‘the busman’s holiday’, but here at ShelfLife we must confess that on summer holidays abroad, we do love to pop into a local supermarket and c-store or two to get a flavour of how the offering compares to what’s available at-home. We suspect more than a few of you readers are exactly the same! It got us to thinking just what holidaymakers visiting Irish shores would make of Centra Rathmore in Co. Kerry.

Unique mix

Standing at an impressive 9.500 sq ft, not only does this local supermarket and forecourt house a full ambient offering to which locals come from a 10-mile radius to do their full weekly shop, but the Centra/Applegreen store also houses an extensive deli offering, in-store bakery, butchery, large sit-down area, varied off-licence and Caramico Authentic Italian Pizza concept, all topped off with a colourful explosion of toppings enticing curious minds over to explore Moo’d Ice Cream. We’ve never seen anything like this breadth of offering at a forecourt abroad and so we can only imagine that tourists here conclude Ireland is streets ahead of the international game – and they would be right!

“We put a lot of focus on fresh, Irish produce and it’s vital to have stand-out features that maybe the large multiples can’t deliver,” says retailer Donagh Hickey.

Delivering value

With a customer mix of approximately 80% local shoppers and 20% passing trade, offering value has always been important at Centra Rathmore to secure repeat local custom and prevent shoppers from driving to larger towns nearby for their weekly shop. Donagh Hickey is all too aware this will become even more critical for consumers as the cost-of-living crisis continues. As such, the store has a new promotional cycle every three weeks with strong specials on offer, alongside a broad Centra own-brand range and ‘Wow’ offers available every week.

“We have to be seen to offer value; that’s huge at the moment across the store because if people don’t see value, they will let vote with their feet and move on,” says Hickey. “It’s a very competitive market for the foreseeable future so it’s key to stay on top of that.” During the pandemic and subsequent lockdown restrictions, many more local people realised the diversity, quality and value that was available at Centra Rathmore and Hickey is now determined to keep that custom into the future.

Focus on fresh

Undoubtedly, shoppers often ‘eat with their eyes’ and with a spacious and bright appearance, Centra Rathmore has visual appeal in spades. It also has quality, homemade credentials that more than pass the muster. “Within the deli, we do fresh, homemade lunches and salads every day,” says Hickey. “We have two bakers for our in-store bakery and a qualified butcher in-store to serve fresh meats.”

Centra Rathmore’s quality-focused ethos is summed up well in the Caramico Pizza offering. “It’s a great product,” says Hickey simply. “The ingredients are all wholesome and top quality; they’re not processed. Even the sauces are all made from ingredients in-store so you’re not just getting it out of a bottle.” The result is fantastic flavour. “It’s very well received; we get a lot of people buying them uncooked to take home and cook themselves,” Hickey notes. “It’s a great addition to the store, it brings a different

dimension and the quality is great. At the end of the day, that’s what people respect.”

Continual evolution

While Centra Rathmore is now reaping the rewards of its latest revamp and extension, completed in March of this year, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it was through continual evolution and gradual improvements that the store has become the 9,500 sq ft flagship outlet it is today. Hickey outlines how the store has gone through various iterations during his 31 years there. “In 1991,” he recalls, it was “a motor dealership with a traditional forecourt; three pumps out at the front. We had converted what was office space into a 600 sq ft store and that marked our first venture into retail, a small independent store with a petrol forecourt that has always been a family business, managed by my mother until 1999.”

Seven years later, a new purchase of land sparked new life into the business. “In 1998, I purchased around two acres of land,” Hickey continues. “I was lucky enough to be able to get that just beside the property and we built a new 2,500 sq ft Centra, with a Statoil forecourt in 1999. That marked the beginning of our relationship with Centra.”

With the store trading well under the Centra brand, it wasn’t long before they embarked on another major expansion during the following decade. “In 2007, we doubled the size of our Centra store to 5,500 sq ft,” says Hickey. A new focus also started to take shape. “Our original store was more convenience and deli focused but we saw there was a market in Rathmore for a neighbourhood store. We invested and became the local supermarket.”

In 2018, Hickey started to consider another expansion. With the forecourt having become congested due to its high volume of business –particularly after its transfer to Applegreen in 2015 – the retailer was coming under pressure for space. Hickey subsequently gained an extra half acre of land from the local Rathmore GAA Club, and expanded the Centra to its current floorspace of 9,500 sq ft. While the pandemic delayed progress somewhat, the expansion was fully completed in March of this year.

The result has greatly improved ease-ofaccess for supermarket customers, with 90 carparking spaces now directly adjacent – as opposed to some 35 spaces located at the side and back of the store previously. “It’s much better now,” explains Hickey. “It’s very easy to get in and out to do your grocery shop, without needing to cross the forecourt.”

The Caramico Pizza offering has received a great reaction from customers in-store, through using “wholesome and top quality” ingredients

Local support

As well as improving access to the store, as soon as customers enter, they are guaranteed to receive a warm welcome. “We have a very mature team of staff that have been with us for a long time and I would say straightway it’s a huge part of why the business has succeeded –the personality of our staff with our customers and our staff with our customers – it works both ways,” says Hickey. “The local support we receive is exceptional and I put that down to the staff.”

Support is very much a two-way street at Centra Rathmore, which has for years been involved in supporting the local GAA club in Rathmore as well as several local football clubs in the surrounding areas and multiple charities. “From being involved - not in Rathmore because I don’t live in Rathmore but in my own local GAA club for years, you realise the importance of support from local businesses,” Hickey reflects. “Often, it’s been difficult to raise funds and particularly now when the cost of living has climbed so high, it’s vital to support local clubs and charities. We’re doing it all the time and are delighted to do so. I’m very fortunate that we get great support from our local community, and I’m very happy to support them in return.”

Brand expertise

On the topic of support, the Centra brand’s reputation and expertise has proved essential to the business, according to Hickey. “Even when I was about to sign with Centra [in 1999], when I was an independent, I would have recognized that it was a market leader. I started out in convenience and when you see their expertise and understanding of the market, and their willingness more importantly to understand the market and to continuously evolve with the changing times, I have to say they’ve been exceptional.”

After all, the FMCG sector is constantly developing. “I’m in the grocery business now for 31 years and I still think I’m new to it,” Hickey laughs. “I still think I’m only in the door! I’m with Centra now since 1999 so that’s 23 years and the offering they are bringing to us represents a sea change. They are working away in the background; evolving and continuing to advance through looking at new initiatives and then bringing those to us.

“When you are driving around the country, looking for a store to enter, there’s a very high standard you know you will experience when you walk into any Centra store,” he continues. As a result, Hickey believes passing trade is higher at Centra Rathmore because customers’ confidence in the brand is so high. A view borne out by the figures which show Centra Rathmore has achieved weekly growth of 25-30% since 2019. This all adds up to a destination store to which any visiting retailer – whether from Ireland or abroad – would be missing a trick by failing to take inspiration from this unique offering! ■