A smooth take-off

Owner of the Spar in Dublin Airport, Ger Ralph, knows a strong location when he sees one - such as his latest retail venture located in Holywell area of Swords, Dublin.

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12 May 2010

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Spar
Holywell Commercial Centre,
Swords,
Dublin

Owner: Ger Ralph
Size: 2,500 sq ft
Staff: 16

Surpassing targets in current times is a bonifide achievement, so retailer Ger Ralph is understandably delighted his new store has managed to return this result. Since his Spar, located in the Holywell area of Swords, Dublin, opened at the end of March, sales at the 2,500 sq ft store have been ahead of projected figures. Admittedly though, bearing the recession in mind, Ralph had adopted a realistic approach towards projections.

“We were very cautious. We tailored our costs and figures to a low start in the current financial environment. We’ve exceeded that, which we’re very happy about.”

Location, location, location

The lesson of this opening would therefore be that if a store is in the right location, it can still yield impressive results. As Ralph says: “It is a very tough time at the moment, but you have to hope that a good location is still a good location regardless of what the environment is like out there.”

And Ralph is a retailer who knows the value of a good location. In fact, another of his stores is based in one of the most recession-proof c-store sites throughout Ireland – in Dublin Airport. “It’s very much in its own bubble, it’s not really affected by the outside world,” he notes. “I know in the present day, everywhere’s affected. But it’s in its own bubble; as regards the financial climate, whatever might affect your neighbourhood store, it doesn’t affect an airport store.”

Then again, this particular store-owner has an excellent example to follow when it comes to taking carefully calculated risks. His father actually opened the first Spar shop in Ireland in 1963. “It was a brave move at the time. Spar was new to Ireland and he took a chance on it and it paid dividends,” says Ralph.

Innovative start

His father was also one of the first retailers to employ a self-service model in a small space, instead of the traditional ‘service from behind the counter’ format. And after moving to Spar, Ralph says his dad “never looked back. He still goes in to work everyday into Eurospar in Dunboyne so he’s still heavily involved in the business.”

Ralph himself, worked for several years within grocery in Dunnes, before taking the plunge and opening his first store in Dublin Airport in 1996. He then opened another store in Clonee, Dublin, and his latest venture in Swords was also a bold move, considering the signs of the times. Nevertheless, it was a move upon which he had expended considerable thought. In fact, he says that he and his team initially considered basing a store in Holywell towards the end of 2008. A northsider from Artane, Ralph knew the area well and was well-placed to see the potential a Holywell site could deliver.

Not only is it “a strong residential area with 1,200 units between houses and apartments in the immediate area, and more in the surrounding areas.” The shop is also based along “a very busy shortcut from Swords to Malahide, so we get a lot of passing trade,” says Ralph. “Basically it’s the best of both worlds.”

Selling value

To make the most of his strong residential position however, he had to prove to locals from the off that his store could compete on price. “Value is key at the moment and it’s very important when you open a new store to show that you’re offering value from the start. We have seven value ends out there to portray the value image.”

A strong own brand offering is another factor Ralph views as essential in creating a value perception in customers’ minds. “Spar branded lines can make Spar stand out from its competitors because you can obviously only get them in Spar. So once they’re strong and the products are very good, which they are, that’s an advantage you have over your competitors.”

He also feels confident his store’s layout will help deliver maximum results. “We had a lot of help from Spar as regards layout. Our ROA Paul McGra, alongside Jenny Chapman from the development team, had a big input into it.”

Team building

Finding staff who would create the right impression for the store was likewise crucial for Ralph. On this point he notes that the downturn has delivered one silver lining, at least. “Interviewing is much easier than it was in peak times. There’s a better calibre of person out there now at the moment,” he comments.

This has helped make Ralph confident he has now built a strong, experienced team at the Holywell store. All his staff have previous retail experience, and he has been able to bring his own skilled staff into the new store. Two key members of the management team had previously worked in his airport shop while another had been based in Eurospar in Dunboyne.

Manager Cathereen Fitzpatrick’s extensive fresh food experience from her previous time spent with Superquinn, has also enabled her to excel in this area. “It’s great from our point of view,” says Ralph, “because that’s the end of the store that you want to promote and try and get most out of.”

“In the deli, Cathereen would be instrumental in making a lot of our own stuff from scratch, such as dinners with meat, potatoes and veg. Some of the staff here also worked with us in the airport as well so would likewise have a lot of fresh food experience.”

Banking on partnership

On the subject of people who have helped the store to succeed, Ralph adds a group that some retailers might consider a little more controversial. “The banks at the moment are getting a lot of bad press with regards to small and medium businesses, but Brian Murphy and his team in the Bank of Ireland business centre in Swords really gave us every backing and were very positive from the first meeting we had with them,” says Ralph. “They were very positive about financing the deal and they gave us every help along the way.”

With support in place, the next move planned according to Ralph, is now “to build on the good start we’ve made, and hopefully we can carry it through to its full potential.” Initial customer feedback has been very positive, and perhaps this is not surprising. “It was a car journey before to wherever residents wanted to go and they now feel they can walk to their local shop and they’re all very happy with that.” The store now looks set to fulfil many more of its customers’ needs in the near future.

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