For third time, Spar Park West takes the ShelfLife C-Store of the Year Award, winning Gold for stores 2,000 to 4,000 sq ft and the overall Platinum award
Jan 26 2010
David Barker, Cuisine de France, and Gavin O’Leary, The Irish Daily Star, present the Gold Award stores 2,000 to 4,000 sq ft and overall Platinum Award to David Bagnall and Mohammad Chishty of Spar Parkwest
You have to hand it to David Bagnall, he’s doing something right. With a string of C-Store awards from previous years, in addition to winning the overall award three times, and a GRAM award in 2008 for his team, headed up by manager Mohammad Chishty, the success of Spar Park West is undeniable.
The independent judge described the store as: “a consistent performer in the ShelfLife C-Store Awards,” and although heading for its ninth birthday, “looks every bit as good in 2009 as the day it first opened, which goes to show that with the correct care and maintenance, fixtures, fittings and equipment can stand the test of time, not to mention the comings and goings of over 3.5 million customers.”
Spar Park West was in excellent company however, among fellow Gold award winners and runners-up in the small, medium and large store categories. Tobin’s Gala, Letterkenny, won Gold for stores less than 2,000 sq ft, and was described by the judges as: “a pleasure to visit.” The chief judge commented: “From the minute you enter the forecourt to the time you leave you know that care, dedication and attention to detail are top of management’s agenda. In this day and age to have petrol served to you and someone offer to clean your windscreen is a rare but welcome sight.”
Staffords Fine Foods in Drogheda meanwhile was Gold winner in the stores 4,000 to 8,000 sq ft category. Our judge commented that the store “is a credit to Joe Stafford and his team,” and is “an extremely well run, well managed and well stocked independent supermarket. Carrying the full range of convenience lines as well as full off-licence, excellent fresh foods and many ancillary lines, the store is spot on in terms of customer offering and convenience.”
Park life
Speaking to ShelfLife after the awards, Spar Park West’s David Bagnall explained that making food the “hero” of the c-store is key to success. That and ensuring customer satisfaction at all times. He is ever conscious of the mortal mistake of becoming “an inconvenient convenience store.”
Operating in the busy Park West business park since 2002, Bagnall is very aware that his customers are busy people, “in a stressful enough environment without having to queue for lunches.” With this need in mind, he arranged meetings with various companies’ HR departments and between them agreed surrounding offices would have staggered lunch breaks, 15 minutes apart. Anticipation plus lateral thinking plus preparation equals a win, win, win solution for the c-store, its customers and their employers.
Being at the centre of a multinational hub also means Spar Park West has a diverse customer mix, across many different backgrounds, cultures and religions, and its offering must appeal to everyone. The shop, which is open 24 hours a day, also has customers, such as international telesales employees, who are working with a completely different time zone. It’s therefore essential the ‘time of day’ offering can “cope with serving chicken curry for someone’s dinner, while another customer is simultaneously looking for a breakfast roll.”
The essential ingredient
Managing to achieve this goal of pleasing all people at all times would not be possible without excellent staff such as the 17-strong team at Park West. “Every single person” fulfils a “key vital role,” says Bagnall, who points out the store has established an impressive record of a zero staff turnover rate since its opening.
That retailing is a vocation, is something he feels passionately about and his goal is to “change retailing from a job into a career.” A policy of investing in people is subsequently an integral part of his store.
This was a focus reinforced by the various retailers, or mentors as they might more accurately be called, with whom Bagnall has worked with since the start of his retailing career. Beginning in 1987, he learnt his shopfloor essentials from Joe Nally in his SuperValu supermarkets in North Kildare and Meath. Nally’s employees benefited from a traditional training process, where they would gain experience by working in each of the store’s departments. However, Bagnall points out his former employer also adopted a “very innovative” approach towards staff and subsequently put his employees through college at DIT.
The impact of this can clearly be seen in Bagnall’s store now, and not just through his own degree. He is also very proud of store manager Mohammad Chishty’s achievement, in completing the BWG graduate programme.
Other influential retailers he has worked with include Fergus Daly of SuperValu, Tallaght, and Peter Dwan of Spar Ranelagh, who he describes as “an institution within the Spar business.”
He then worked with John Clohisey at retail property group, Newhill Eight to Twelve, which he notes was “an incredible experience,” and a “second traineeship in the commercial element of retailing.” Subsequently, for the past three years, Bagnall has also been a commercial director at Newhill.
Maintaining standards
For someone with this degree of collective experience, garnered from a strong group of retailers and businessmen over the years, Bagnall has certainly not grown complacent about store standards. “Genuine, huge delight” was his response to winning the overall Platinum Award at the 2009 ShelfLife C-Store Awards. In fact, he commented at the awards ceremony that due to its impact on staff morale, “if he could take the award and lodge it in the bank tomorrow, it would be worth more than any cheque.”
For Bagnall, the award is an endorsement of the entire team’s hard work at the store and he was “so proud” to once again receive the award alongside Mohammad. The commendation meant all the more because he knew he was up against stiff competition. Indeed, The Park West team were delighted to receive a card congratulating them on their win, signed by every staff member at Kilmartin’s Centra, Athlone, who were runners up for the Gold Award in the same category, for stores 2,000 to 4,000 sq ft.
Bagnall is also confident about the store’s post-recession prospects. Following a recent refresh which integrated a new off-licence at the store, he says he is planning a refit in 12 to 18 months depending on the economic climate.
But while innovative fixtures and fittings are important, it is essential in his view to allow the customer offering and food to be “the hero”. For him, the traditional values are the most important, centring on good customer service, value, and product offering. As regards value, he is particularly happy to work with BWG, who he claims excel in being “proactive rather than reactive,” and were the first to deliver stand-out offers such as the ‘Eurocrunch’ and ‘wow’ deals. This year’s Platinum winner therefore appears to have all the ingredients to ensure it continues to shine.
A Gala feast
Gold award winner for stores less than 2,000 sq ft, Eddie Tobin of Tobin’s Gala in Letterkenny, told ShelfLife he is constantly on the look-out for new ideas as to how he can improve his successful forecourt even further.
Competition is stiff at Tobin’s Gala in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, with 12 service stations located within a five mile radius of the store. However, owner Eddie Tobin explains how his store offers a number of key advantages, which enable it to stand-out within the area. Firstly, it is situated in a prime location, being “the first on the left leaving the town.” The fact it is truly a one-stop-shop is another major plus, with “a full range of facilities including a deli seated area, car washes and fully attended forecourt.” An impressive 72 customer parking spaces on site has also been a “big factor in driving our food offer” according to Tobin.
Despite attracting a loyal custom base though, Tobin’s Gala is not a store prepared to rest on its laurels. “We are always looking for new ways to improve our store and are planning to go to the forecourt convention in Atlanta nest year with Topaz to seek new innovations,” says Tobin. Achieving excellence on an everyday basis, through not neglecting the small details, is also of crucial importance to him and his team. “We aim to achieve the highest standards possible and try to keep our station in optimum condition. Our staff turnover is very low and we place enormous emphasis on providing excellent customer service through highly motivated staff.”
In fact out of a team of 34, including 18 full time and 16 part time staff, 20 have been with the store for over five years. Tobin’s Gala also provides in house training to all staff using the IBEC Retail Skillsnet programme.” Eddie’s wife Annette, was another key addition to the team, and has brought standards to “another level” since she joined the business three years ago.
A focus on continual improvement is not just important within his own store however, it’s also something he respects about the relatively young Gala group. “They are progressive and constantly looking to improve which is how I perceive ourselves to be.”
As well as being able to draw on the experience of Gala’s experts, Tobin has amassed a wealth of knowledge himself, through working for the family business for 20 years - first joining after leaving college in 1990. And when asked who he admires most within the grocery trade his answer is unequivocal. “All family businesses that are working to their optimum to survive the current recession.”
He views delivering an attractive value proposition as a vital means of ensuring survival moreover. “Customers are very focused on value at present and average spend is down especially in stores like our own where the mix is extremely convenience and impulse led,” comments Tobin. “We have introduced a lot of price point offers to try and get an increased customer spend which has been quite successful. We have also offered fuel discounts to try and increase our car wash turnover as nationally car wash income is significantly down as it is perceived as a discretionary spend.”
Customer retention is currently the Tobins’ main focus. “We believe that if we can retain our customer base during these tough times it will bode well for us in the future when the economy improves. We are also looking abroad for innovative ideas which we can implement and have in place for when there is an upturn in the marketplace.”
A fine thing
Joe Stafford of Stafford’s Fine Foods in Drogheda, the Gold winner for stores 4,000 to 8,000 sq ft, said meanwhile that he takes inspiration for his store from some of New York’s finest delis, and strives to deliver customer satisfaction through providing a unique offering.
Innovation is central at independent family retailer Stafford’s Fine Foods, particularly when it comes to the store’s first-class deli offering. Owner and managing director, Joe Stafford is passionate about bringing an already highly successful fresh food offering to the next level. This dedication to delivering the latest and best ideas has even seen him travel to Germany and New York to pick up inspiration from some of the most cutting-edge retail formats, as well as various famous delis stateside.
The impressive range of freshly made food at the store’s deli includes Stafford’s own salads, hot chickens and meats, a carvery and hot fresh pasta. Not surprisingly, such convenient meal options have proved a hit with the store’s commuting customers. What’s more, in a bid to provide the tastiest options possible, Joe Stafford personally created many of the recipes exclusive to the Stafford’s brand.
While the Gold award-winning 6,000 sq ft shop at Bryanstown Cross Route, just off the Dublin Road in Drogheda, opened in 2005, Stafford’s had already achieved a solid reputation for retailing excellence some decades earlier. A successful formula for a fresh food and grocery offering was first created over 30 years ago at Stafford’s Laurence Street store in Drogheda, and this has subsequently evolved and improved even further over the intervening decades. The landmark store, first launched in 1978 by Joe’s father Jim, who was a former Quinnsworth manager, was where he developed his fervour for delivering a unique offering. When his father passed away in 1992, Stafford subsequently purchased the Laurence Street store from the family. He later expanded the independent group’s portfolio through opening a store in 2000 at Drogheda’s Our Lady of Lourdes hospital. This busy visitors’ shop offers a full newsstand and flowers, alongside the typically high standards of fresh food which locals have come to expect from Stafford’s.
According to Joe Stafford, while the product is of immense importance, staff are nevertheless instrumental in maintaining such a high level of customer satisfaction. All the 26-strong team are “proactive and know their customer base.” Store manager Joanne Carroll has “without a shadow of a doubt” also exerted a huge positive impact on the store’s performance and standards.
Crucial factors in the store’s strong reputation also include a very well stocked off-licence and newsstand, a broad mother and baby range, and a full range of groceries that, according to Stafford, could rival any of the larger multiples. Attractive pricing is also essential in his view, particularly in the current economic climate. His aim is to provide quality but also good value and he subsequently believes his prices are “surprisingly competitive.” The store also has regular special offers which attract customers’ attraction, and maintaining good relationships with local suppliers also allows clients to sample a different offering, above and beyond the usual fare.
Another major plus for customers is that parking is free and plentiful, and there is also an ATM in store for their convenience. By fulfilling so many customer needs in a modern, easy-to-navigate store format, Joe Stafford is confident that Stafford’s Fine Foods will continue to build on its ShelfLife C-Store victory and deliver even more of the quality and variety demanded by its loyal customer base in 2010.