Musgrave NI announces £12 million investment for 2021

Set against an ambitious growth strategy, local convenience retail brand, Centra continues its expansion across Northern Ireland with the opening of its 100^th store.

The landmark achievement comes as Musgrave Northern Ireland, which operates the SuperValu, Centra and MACE brands, announced further investment plans of £12 million for 2021.  This includes the opening of over 20 new stores, creating up to 500 jobs and follows on the back of an investment heavy year in 2020, despite the pandemic.

As part of this significant investment, an additional 17 existing stores across the network will also benefit from a revamp.

Dunman’s Centra in Cookstown is the 100^th store in the convenience brand’s portfolio in Northern Ireland and is located just outside Cookstown on the Moneymore Road. In addition, Lusty’s Centra in Larne Harbour recently opened its doors and the next few weeks will see openings in Knockbreda and Toome.

Significant refreshes are planned for SuperValu Portstewart, McGleenan’s Centra Keady and McCool’s Centra Ballymena, providing more inspiration and ideas for shoppers with a focus on quality across fresh produce, meat, and food-to-go.

Musgrave has invested heavily in its convenience offering in recent years, including its artisan on-the-go coffee brand, Frank and Honest, which is available in over 150 SuperValu, Centra and Mace stores across Northern Ireland. With over 800 Frank and Honest locations across the island of Ireland, Frank and Honest is now the largest on-the-go coffee brand on the island.  Moo’d ice-cream, now available in over 20 stores, provides shoppers with a range of sweet treat options while Green Kitchen, the Centra salad bar offering, expanded the food-to-go menu.

Speaking today, Trevor Magill Managing Director for Musgrave in Northern Ireland said –

“We have ambitious plans for our network with the focus clearly on our vision to ‘redefine convenience’ in Northern Ireland. The development of new stores alongside the refurbishment of existing stores and continuing to innovate when it comes to product lines, ensures we are always focused on what matters to our shoppers.

“Our teams, across the SuperValu, Centra and MACE brands, are dedicated to providing great quality and choice in terms of our offer, with value for money and exceptional levels of customer service at the heart of what we do.”

Five key initiatives developed to boost fundraising drive

In what was an exceptionally challenging year, Centra and SuperValu retailers across Northern Ireland raised a monumental £130K for long-standing charity partner, Action Cancer.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the brands challenged themselves to reassess their initial fundraising plans which support the life-saving services offered by Action Cancer across Northern Ireland.

Desi Derby, Marketing Director for SuperValu and Centra, commented on the fundraising achievement: 

“When the pandemic hit at the beginning of last year, our rally call became ‘together we are stronger.’ We knew how detrimental the impact of having to cancel traditional fundraising events and activities would be to Action Cancer, so as a team, we worked collectively to come up with ways in which we could support our long-standing partner in these difficult times.”

“This significant figure is a testament to the dedication of our retailers, colleagues and customers, who have worked tirelessly over the last year to both serve their communities and to help us achieve this impressive fundraising total.”

Five key initiatives were developed including, the sale of limited-edition Action Cancer face masks which to date has raised almost £25,000 and are still available in stores priced at £4.  This followed on the heels of a successful Halloween initiative, partnering with local Armagh supplier Gilfresh, which saw the brands pledge a 50p donation from each pumpkin sale.

Throughout the pandemic, SuperValu and Centra have continued to champion their local communities and in June, the brands called on the public to nominate their ‘local store hero’ – a store colleague recognised for going above and beyond to help their local community – a £1 donation was made for every nomination received.

In April, the brands announced their partnership with a local charity initiative showing support for the NHS and all frontline workers – selling balloon shaped stickers for customers to display on their car or home windows.

In addition, SuperValu honoured their annual sponsorship of Action Cancer’s Bra Walk which took place in September and went virtual for the first time.

Gareth Kirk, CEO of Action Cancer, added:

“Throughout 2020 the ongoing support of SuperValu and Centra retailers to Action Cancer has been truly outstanding and vital, enabling us to continue with many of our supporting services throughout the year. Without the ongoing support of Musgrave NI our impact and the difference we make in helping to save lives and support people with cancer in Northern Ireland would be considerably less. Thank you, SuperValu, and Centra for your tremendous ongoing and continuing support to Action Cancer and for the contribution you make daily to our local community.”