Driving ahead

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Due to its excellent position on the M7 motorway, business is thriving at the newly opened Spar Express, situated just outside Monasterevin, Co Kildare

People

22 July 2011

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Spar1 Profile
Spar Express,
Junction 14, Mayfield, Monasterevin, Co Kildare

Retailers: Donal and Liam Fitzpatrick
Size: 6,000 sq ft
Staff No: 50; 40 part-time, 10 full-time

At the time of ShelfLife’s interview, the new Spar Express and motorway service area at Junction 14 of the M7 Motorway, outside Monasterevin, had opened just six days earlier on Friday 17 June. Unsurprisingly for a new green-field site, there was “a lot of work involved,” says joint owner Donal Fitzpatrick, who owns it alongside his brother Liam. The store which totals 6,000 sq ft in size including the kitchen, is able to offer seating for 100 customers between its indoor and outdoor tables; the latter being a roofed space that will be open only during the summer months. Weary motorists who are in need of some quick refreshment can choose between an array of branded offerings including Insomnia, Supermac’s and a large Spar Express deli counter.

Despite visiting before the busy lunchtime period, the majority of tables within the store’s large seating area were occupied. A demand certainly exists therefore for such services in this location on the M7 motorway. In fact, according to Fitzpatrick, “somewhat in excess of 30,000 people pass by everyday.” The experienced retailer also felt that, “there’s a complete deficit of services around the M7 motorway without doubt”. Playing a role in fulfilling this need has been an important ambition within his family for many years.

Long-held ambition fulfilled

When his father first moved to Monasterevin, he established a modest garage in 1954. “In that era, a small garage would store petrol and also repair cars and vehicles and do agricultural machinery,” says Fitzpatrick. “He was a mechanic by trade and everybody who had a vehicle that moves would come to him; they’d come to him for fuel and repairs.

“Then the business grew and we kept all the elements of the business, so we kept offering the fuel, and we developed the motor business and formed a company called Monasterevin Motors. Ever since, in 1954, when he came to the town, my father was servicing the needs of the people on the main road, so really this new motorway service area is only doing the same thing in a bigger way.”

The family has also worked in partnership with Texaco since 1954 and has “a longstanding relationship” with Spar. The Fitzpatricks own a Spar convenience store and forecourt in Monasterevin town which they opened in 1990. Currently, this smaller store is approximately 1,000 sq ft, however they plan to develop it within the next 12 months, and complete a revamp and enlargement, expanding to 2,000 sq ft and installing a small seating area.

Although Fitzpatrick explains that “having a motorway service area has been an ambition in our family for 30 years,” when the brothers learnt that Monasterevin town would be bypassed in 2004, it reinforced the importance of fulfilling their plans. “What’s happened here last Friday was just an achievement of that goal,” adds the retailer.

A dedicated facility for road-users

The new business fulfils specific criteria set out by the National Roads Authority regarding the facilities that a motorway service area should offer. “We advertise ourselves as a motorway service area, not as a service station,” says Fitzpatrick. “A motorway service area is a dedicated facility to cater to the needs of all road-users and that’s trucks, cars, motorcycles, it’s oversized heavy-good vehicles that might be extra long or extra wide, and then of course you need the right parking for all those vehicles.”

The facility therefore offers 25 HGV parking spaces, 170 car-parking spaces, and five dedicated coach-parking spaces. This benefits coach drivers, as if they park here and let passengers out, they are “captive to the site,” which makes stopping for quick breaks much more manageable. For example, if a group of lads are travelling to a match, a few could decide to go “for a quick pint” if they stopped in a town, laughs Fitzpatrick, “and then you’re waiting for them and a 15 minute stop turns into an hour stop.”

Consistent demand

The site’s parking rails are also cleverly arranged in such a way so that the HGVs and coaches can always move forwards and don’t have to reverse, which makes operating them much safer. The store doesn’t just offer good facilities for motorists however, but also for Monasterevin’s approximately 2,000-strong population. “The local town has been hit by recession, and the local coffee shop closed,” explains Fitzpatrick. “I suppose it’s the evolving of people’s options of where to go, people can go out now, and meet up for a coffee. So it is trading strongly and we’ve had good local support, as well as strong demand from the road. We’ve had good feedback so far, as the people in the surrounding area have given us great support and have certainly been very much behind us as a venture.

“There certainly is a demand, and the demand is right through the day from 6 o’clock, there’s always people in the seats,” he adds. The elevated site offers a pleasant space to meet with large open windows and pleasant scenery in the distance. Fitzpatrick points out that both the Wicklow and Slievebloom mountains are visible from this location. Less ubiquitous than Supermac’s perhaps, the Insomnia concept has also proved popular. “It’s an upmarket brand and it gives people another option on the road for food and we try to cater for as wide a variety of people and their dietary requirements.”

Fitzpatrick is confident moreover that he and his brother Liam have the right team in place in order to ensure that happy customers will keep coming back. He explains that while they have started off with 50 staff, including 40 part-time and 10 full-time employees, that already they foresee that they’ll need more hands on deck. “Straightaway, we’re practically recruiting again already, so maybe we’ll have another 10 staff.” In saying this however, he has realistic expectations, noting that, “we would be experiencing a boom in trade in the beginning but we expect that to level off, perhaps after a couple of weeks. The eventual level of trade and eventual turnover is just too early to predict”.

A team effort

While Donal and Liam are both heavily involved in the early stages of the new venture, Gavin Moore is the manager, and Michael McDonagh is the assistant manager, and they’re heading up the operation. “Myself and Liam because it’s such a big project, are still involved in just getting everything tweaked.” He also notes that, “we probably have 80 or 90 people working with us now as a group. So there’s a lot of people behind the scenes who are doing a lot of work – it’s a team effort.” The group will also have an official opening, although a date hasn’t yet been fixed at this early stage.

While, the Spar Express store may appear more focused on foodservice than retail, given its approximately 1,500 sq ft seating area, Fitzpatrick describes it as a mix of both. The local authority restricted the store to 100 sq m of retail space, and he concedes that had they been granted more space at the planning stage, they likely would have included more shelving. While the store is therefore “ultra high convenience,” he still believes in the importance of providing good value. “Forecourt retailing is about convenience and value. You’ve got to be competitive. You have to provide a quality product and give the customer reassurance through an established brand. That’s where our market is; more and more of our business is in the food-to-go area, where people want a sandwich, a lunch, a DVD or a coffee, That’s where forecourt retailing is heading, in that direction.”

Securing funding

The new Spar Express store also provides reassurance that in the current climate, securing investment from the banks is not an impossible feat – as long as you’ve chosen the right location and have a solid business plan in place.

“There was lots of exchange of information required and lots of criteria that the bank required us to fulfil, but we were fortunate in being able to secure funding,” explains Fitzpatrick. “In fact they were very ambitious about the project. They wanted to be involved. I suspect that the bank recognised that this was an area where opportunities existed and they wanted to be involved. That’s my own idea, and certainly from when they gave us the money it was all systems go from there on.” From the evidence of ShelfLife’s visit, trade certainly does appear to be driving full steam ahead at this popular motorway service area.

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