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SPAR Douglas Street, Cork recently underwent a

revamp, something which retailer Kevin White says

has ‘brought a whole new lease of life to the store.’ In this issue, Kevin takes us through the main reasons

behind making the change and underlines his key

philosophies to success in the retail industry.

Our Story

Anchor 1

Kevin’s philosophies have developed throughout his many years

working in retail. He started out working as a baker for Safeways

in the UK before moving up the ranks internally to work in buying

and trading. This was the perfect stepping stone to his next role

as Regional Manager with Baker’s Oven (now Gregg’s). Kevin

subsequently moved to Ireland to take up a position as Operations

Manager of a number of stores for a competitor. However, the time

came when Kevin decided he needed a new challenge, so he and

business partner Colin Byrd opened up their own SPAR store in

Douglas Street. That was in 2008; seven years on and Kevin says he “wouldn’t change a thing.”

“The decision to join the SPAR brand was easy”, explains Kevin. “We

were promised a lot when we became a part of the SPAR family, but

these promises have been fulfilled and even exceeded in many

instances. We were presented with a very clear vision for our future

and now, looking around our newly revamped store, I really believe

this vision has come to life. We’re absolutely delighted with the

new store design.”

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Customer Reaction

So too are customers, it would seem. “In the last ten weeks we have

experienced a 7% increase in footfall compared to the same period

last year. I have no doubt that this is due to the revamp; we still

have the same core offerings but how they are presented in-store

is completely different. The store is more welcoming and modern;

the whole atmosphere and dynamic of the shop is completely

different and customer reaction and feedback has been extremely

positive.”

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However, with two competitors coming into the area in the last year,

Kevin realises that he has to be proactive in order to create and maintain

customer loyalty. “We have a strong focus on value in our store”,

he explains. “We usually have around 50 promotional products on

our shelves every three week period. We also issue around 4,500

handbills to houses in the local area every three weeks; these

handbills are specific to our store and they let customers know all

the great deals we have on offer. By getting to know my customers

personally over the years I have been able to tailor the deals we

have in our store to their tastes. I value customer engagement and

feedback; it allows me to improve my store for customers whilst

building loyalty at the same time. It’s win-win!”

Platform for Further Growth

Despite the vision set out in 2008 becoming a reality with the recent revamp, Kevin does not see this as a reason to put his feet up. On the contrary, Kevin feels this is an opportune time to capitalise on the natural momentum and renewed customer interest that goes hand-in-hand with a new store design. “We now have the perfect platform to expand our customer base and grow our business; I certainly won’t be resting on my laurels”, says Kevin. “We have a number of new business opportunities on the horizon; there are plans for a new Exhibition Centre, a new National Heritage Centre and a six story office block to be built nearby in the coming months. We plan to capitalise on this and incentivise these potential new customers to come to our store.”

Key In-Store Departments

SPAR Douglas Street places a strong emphasis on the chilled and

ambient departments in-store and the revamp is reflective of this. “We

have added more space for our chilled and ambient products. These

were already really strong sales drivers for us, but since the revamp

sales in these categories have increased 15% and 12% respectively. We

have also seen a massive increase in coffee sales since we introduced

our new Seattle’s Best Coffee at the entrance of our store. Coffee sales in the last ten weeks have increased 100% on this time last year, so that is obviously very encouraging. We have found that customers arenow going out of their way to get their coffee in SPAR Douglas Street, such is the quality of Seattle’s Best.” Evidently, all the early signs have been extremely positive since the revamp. “Our customers love the new look and it’s also a great new environment for our staff to work in.”

Close-Knit Team

Kevin says he couldn’t have done any of this without his employees.

He says, “The success of the revamp so far is testament to the hard

work of the staff here; they have all bought in to what we are trying to

achieve in SPAR Douglas Street and this has made the whole process extremely smooth. We have a very close-knit team here and this is something which I am extremely proud of. I know my employees on a personal level and know what makes them tick. We also place a strong focus on training our employees so that we provide our customers with the service they expect and deserve. I set very high standards for the staff here but, to their credit, they consistently perform to a very high level. I am lucky in that there is very little staff turnover, so all the staff are singing from the same hymn sheet at this stage. I haveworked under many managers over the years – some good, some bad - so I know what it’s like to be on the other side. I like to think I have used this experience to create a positive working environment for my employees. I try to lead by example; I am in the store every day from 6am to 6pm, but I love my job so I wouldn’t change anything. I take a hands on approach to retail management; you’ll rarely find me stuck in an office behind a computer screen. I am usually behind the till or working on the shop floor; this allows me to meet and interact with my customers.”

Retail Philosophy

The key to Kevin’s success in retail is very simple: “Get the basics right

and the rest will follow.” He explains, “The basics are the key to staying

on top in the retail industry; customer service, hard work, attention

to detail. These are all essential elements to my retail philosophy and

important aspects of building a customer loyalty base. I am so grateful for the support that the SPAR brand has given me since I first joined in 2008 and in particular during the recent revamp. It really is like one big family; I always feel like I can pick up the phone and someone will be only too happy to help. I feel like retailers really have a voice in the SPAR brand; our opinions are valued and taken on board. Much like I encourage customer feedback from my customers in-store, so too does the SPAR team welcome retailer feedback. This is refreshing and definitely bodes well for the future success of SPAR Douglas Street and the SPAR brand as a whole. The success of the revamp in SPAR Douglas Street has definitely inspired us to shake up our SPAR store in Ballyphehane also.”

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