24 STORE PROFILE
Nearby Newtownforbes, Co. Longford is run by husband-and-wife duo Niall and Catherine Smith. Here, Niall speaks to Fionnuala Carolan about life as a retailer in rural Ireland and why they decided to join S&W Wholesale
Retailers Niall and Catherine Smith believe it’s important that customers see them in the store and that they provide the personal touch for shoppers
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ewtownforbes is a village with just 400 inhabitants, four kilometres from Longford town. Smith’s store has been a stalwart of this little village for more than two decades; a particularly impressive feat at a time when businesses in small villages are few and far between. The Smith’s store was previously partnered with other symbol group brands until last year when they joined S&W’s Nearby brand. Niall Smith and his wife Catherine met while working in SuperValu in Longford town back in the late 80s and were there for 13 years before starting out in Newtownforbes in 1999. Smith says that his days in SuperValu armed him with great experience and enabled him to go out on his own. “It was a busy supermarket with 70/80 staff, and I was in goods inwards so every order that was placed or delivered had to go through me,” he explains. “I was there when the very first chilled distribution started so it was a steep learning curve when they started out on that journey.” The move to the current shop came about in 1999 when a friend approached him about leasing it. The Smiths had wanted their own
STORE PROFILE
Retailers: Niall and Catherine Smith Address: Smith’s Nearby, Main Street, Townparks, Newtownforbes, Co. Longford Staff: Four full-time and four part-time staff Size: 1,500sq ft Opening hours: Monday – Saturday: 7.30am – 8pm: Sunday: 8am – 8pm
business and this was a good opportunity to dip their toes in. “We rented it for three years and then bought it and we never looked back,” he says. “We’re here 22 years now. Myself and Catherine work full-time and we have four full-time and four part-time staff. All our staff members are with us a long time and are part of the family.” When they bought the shop in 2003 they built on a new extension at the back which doubled the size of the store and had the desired effect of increased sales. “Our business went up by 20% straightaway as the original shop was only 700sq ft so we were able to
When the Smiths doubled the size of their store in 2003, business went up by 20% straightaway as they were able to stock a better range of wines and add their in-store bakery
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Nearby in Newtownforbes stock a better range of wines and started the in-store bakery at that stage,” he says. “It was a good move for the longevity of the business.”
Changing to Nearby After a long time with the same group, Smith details why they made the change to Nearby. “Even though we were with a competitor previously, we would have bought stock from S&W who had some keen prices across their range. When they launched the new Nearby brand this time last year, they approached us and asked if we were interested so we looked at the pros and cons and we decided to make the change. “It was a big decision as we were 20-odd years with the previous group but S&W could offer us a similar package, with ambient and chilled twice a week and central billing, BDMs [business development managers] on the road, full marketing support; yet with no franchise fee so to us who are so long in business and had a lot of experience, it was worth a shot,” explains Smith. He outlines how a typical franchise fee can be anything from €500 a month upwards and it’s a lot for a small family-run business in a
Retailer Niall Smith says it’s important to make the store as appealing as possible so that customers want to come back more for regular shops
