Musgrave’s Centra chain cemented its status as the market leader in Ireland’s convenience sector last year, with its sales growing 4% to €1.7bn.
The retailer stated it would build on this robust performance by opening 20 new stores this year to add to the existing 473 outlets. Centra retailers have also committed to spending on revamping their stores as part of a €27m investment.
Centra highlighted that its success stems from its 2016 brand repositioning which aimed to redefine the traditional convenience store experience with a healthier, more innovative offering across its network. The increase in sales has been largely attributed to increased demand for its healthy food-to-go offering, capitalising on emerging consumer trends by offering new vegan, vegetarian and prepared evening meals.
Meanwhile, Centra’s ‘Inspired By’ premium range saw sales spike by double digits during the course of last year, helping the brand to attract more customers to do top-up shopping and purchase items for dinner or entertaining at home. The overall hot food-to-go category fared particularly well for Centra in 2019, increasing by 13%.
Centra has continued to invest in new product development. Its Frank and Honest coffee offer saw sales increase by 19% in 2019. The retailer also rolled out a number of new brands including Moo’d, an in-store ice cream kiosk which sold over 3 million cones sold during the course of the year.
Martin Kelleher, Managing Director of Centra commented: “Centra continued to go from strength to strength in 2019, benefiting from the brand repositioning a number of years ago to transform the convenience store experience.
“People increasingly view Centra as a destination shop, so we’re seeing increased footfall as groups of consumers eat together in-store or do top-up shops for dinner. We continue to surpass shoppers’ expectations by rolling out new innovative and healthy ranges and working hard to ensure our customers have a great experience in our stores.”
