Family guy

Aidan Whelan, owner of XL, Donore, Drogheda says he has improved his standard of living since going out on his own

Aidan Whelan spent the first 26 working years of his life as a Dunnes Stores employee, before making the bold move of becoming his own boss by opening a XL

People

12 September 2011

Share this post:

Profile

XL
Donore, Drogheda,
Co Louth

Owner: Aidan Whelan
Size: 2,200 sq ft
Staff: 10

Within minutes of meeting Aidan Whelan, you can tell that his family’s welfare comes before anything else in his life. His relatively new found status as business owner as opposed to multiple retail manager has meant that he is now very involved in the everyday lives of his children, something that a lot of people working in retail end up missing due to long days and lengthy commutes. It would seem that deciding to run a business in a country locality such as Donore in Drogheda was the best move he ever made.

Aidan explains how this huge change in his life came about. “I worked with Dunnes Stores for 26 years. I am from Donaghmeade in Dublin and I started getting part time work in Dunnes during school. Once I came of age, I went into the management side of Dunnes,” he says.

“After I did my leaving cert in the ‘80s there were no jobs. Everyone from my class moved to London or America to get work so I was happy to have work with Dunnes.

“After a few years I joined the management team. I worked all over the country including Wexford, Kilkenny, Clonmel, Portlaoise and Mallow. I ended up coming to Drogheda about 12 years ago and I met my wife and we got married here.
“The thing about Dunnes is that you can be contracted to work anywhere. I have four young children and the way I saw it I could be transferred at any stage as Dunnes have a policy that a one hour drive from home is totally acceptable so I could see myself getting transferred up to Blanchardstown or somewhere like that and with my wife working as well, it would make life very difficult for us. There was no stability.” A point came when he realised he needed a change.

Time to say goodbye

When a store in Sandpit, Termonfeckin, outside Drogheda became available for lease, Aidan decided to take the plunge and go out on his own.

“When the opportunity came along to take over the shop I realised it would give me more flexibility. I could work in the business and have family time. If I needed to be off for a school concert or a dentist visit, I didn’t have to ask anyone’s permission.”

At the same time Dunnes Stores was offering redundancies. Aidan put his name forward and was promised @35,000 for his 26 years of service, so with this as security he went to the bank and organised the finance to take over this store. Unfortunately all did not go according to plan.

“I was to finish in Dunnes at 5pm on a Friday and at 10.45am they pulled me into the office and told me that the redundancy offer was off the table. I’d already taken on the lease for the shop so you can imagine what this felt like. They treated me very badly. I walked away but it was hard to be treated like that after 26 years of service.”

This turn of events meant that Aidan was left with no money to buy stock or run the shop. “The €35,000 would have given me that cushion but I didn’t have it so it was a struggle from day one.”

A new beginning

The first year of business was a steep learning curve and he had to adjust to being responsible for areas of the business he was not too familiar with.

“I learned a lot in the first 12 months. It was a total change for us and it was tough getting used to managing cash flow and paying bills. In Dunnes if you needed more stock you just ordered it, you didn’t have to worry about cash flow.”

However hard the struggle was, Aidan discovered that running his own business really suited him and it benefited the whole family. And just 12 months later Aidan was informed that a Londis shop in Donore was up for lease. Donore was only a short drive from his home in Termonfeckin so he believed it would be a sensible acquisition.

Groomes supplies a lot of the fresh fruit and veg in store

Growing and prospering

Although Aidan was approached by other groups when taking on the second shop in Donore, he was definite about staying with XL because of the huge support he was given when opening his first store, and the excellent buying power that comes with being a part of the BWG network.

“The XL team were super. They came in and helped us on the day we opened to lay out the shop floor. I really like the whole XL concept- the colours are very vibrant and make the place look really fresh and the uniforms look very smart on the staff.”
He is currently just shy of a year in business in Donore. This 2,200 square foot store employs 10 people, all from the locality and Aidan is proud to be providing local employment.

Aidan says that the addition of the lottery machine and the large deli area has made it a very busy store. The recent wine offers from XL have also really helped business.

“The wine offers from XL are really fantastic. There are a number of price points from €5.99 up to €10.99 and it’s really good quality wine and has been flying off the shelves. They have only come in, in the past six months.”

XL uses Complete Cuisine for all its deli produce and they are very happy with the very personal service they receive from the company. They receive visits from Complete Cuisine reps every couple of weeks and they also benefit from in store deli training on a regular basis.

The new wine offers from XL have reinvigorated the category

Local Value Centre

The Donore store is serviced by the local Value Centre in Drogheda. Aidan views this service as second to none and knows that if he ever runs out of any stock, he only needs to make a quick phone call and it will be replenished.

“The Value Centre, Drogheda is great. You can ring them at any stage of the day when you run out of stock and they will either drop it out to you or you can pick it up. You don’t get service like that with the bigger groups.”

He mentions Keith Lane, the Value Centre manager, as being extremely obliging. “Keith always encourages you to take extra stock but is happy to take it back and give you a credit note if you don’t use it.”

Proving his dedication

Since going it alone Aidan has also proved that he is a very competent and dedicated retailer by winning High Street Store of the Year in the XL Store of the Year awards after his first year in business.

“I got High Street Store of the Year so I achieved a lot in 12 months. I suppose the practices I learned in Dunnes paid off in some way and I am very careful to maintain standards. XL is now putting more emphasis on the Store of the Year which means you have a target to reach and you want to make sure you are up there.”

Being a part of the local community in Donore and Termonfeckin is very important to Aidan and he has become involved in the local GAA club over the past few years. He coaches a football team every Friday night and says that this is a luxury he couldn’t afford if he was working for someone else as he wouldn’t be able to commit his time so easily.

With four children between the age of three and 11 and two shops to run, life is certainly busy for Aidan but the fact that he now has the flexibility to combine both means that life is a lot less stressful and a lot more fruitful.

Share this post: