16|Retail News|January/February 2014|www.retailnews.ie
Retail News Interview
Super Quinn Senator Feargal Quinn discusses the big issues facing Ireland’s retail sector, including upward-only rent reviews, the high cost of doing business in Ireland and the proposed introduction of plain packaging for tobacco products. SENATOR Feargal Quinn is probably Ireland’s best known and loved grocery retailer, despite the fact that he hasn’t been a practicing retailer since 2005, when his beloved Superquinn was sold. Since forming Quinn’s Supermarkets in Dundalk in 1960, Quinn quickly established himself as arguably Ireland’s most progressive retailer. For 45 years, he was a familiar figure on the shop floor, greeting customers personally and listening to their needs, even when Superquinn grew to become one of the foremost names in Irish grocery retailing. His philosophy
of ‘Crowning The Customer’ is one that served him well and helped to change Irish retailing forever. A member of the Seanad since 1993, the affable workaholic has for years provided the voice of reason when it comes to the retail grocery sector, never afraid to take on the Government when he feels policy changes will effect retailers and retail jobs. Indeed, recent years have seen Quinn famously help other retailers via RTE’s ‘Feargal Quinn’s Retail Therapy’, whereby he uses his business acumen to aid ailing store owners to turn their business around.