Linda Stewart, Author at Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer

Dairy Milk tops index of emotionally connected brands

Linda Stewart — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 09:48:15 +0000

Cadbury Dairy Milk, Tayto and An Post have emerged as the top 3 ‘emotionally connected’ brands in Ireland, according to a Red C omnibus survey of 1,000 adults.

The research company’s Brand Reaction survey measures which brands have the highest emotional connection with consumers.

Survey participants were asked: ‘As quickly as possible after you see each brand, I want you to select which of the following faces most closely represents how you immediately feel about that brand?’

The eight facial reactions spanned surprise, happy, neutral, fear, contempt, disgust, anger and sadness.

The resulting Brand Reaction Index score was collated from the survey results.

Dairy MIlk topped the index, followed by Tayto, An Post, Lidl, Kellogg’s and Magnum. Twix, McVitie’s Digestives, M&Ms, Jacob’s, 7Up and Avonmore all appeared in the top 20.

Not surprisingly, fast moving consumer goods brands which advertise consistently on television dominate the Brand Reaction Index top 10.

RedC also credits TV ads for the National Lottery’s improvement in the index.

Irish Life has improved its BRI score by 12 points and is now ranked #27, placing itself and its health sub-brand, Irish Life Health (ranked #31) firmly within the leading brands in Ireland.

Major grocery retailers Lidl, Aldi and SuperValu all recorded reduced levels of emotional attachment with consumers vs 2019.

Tucker commented: “It prompts the question of whether the current financial squeeze has negated all the positive initiatives activated by these retailers during the pandemic. Are shoppers that quick to forget?”

In Tucker’s view, strong emotional connections are vitally important as one of the key shortcuts to deliver brand choice.

“The higher the BRI score, the more likely a brand is to be chosen over competitors,” he said.

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Irish retailers critical of tobacco licence plans

Linda Stewart — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 09:32:25 +0000

Irish retailers have criticised the proposal of a new tobacco licence imposed on stores by the government, due to continued fears over rising costs.

Under the law, retailers already pay to register with the National Tobacco Control Office to sell tobacco over the counter or through self-service machines. While few EU countries operate a licensing system, plans have previously been discussed in Ireland, in a bid to limit tobacco sales to a reduced number of licensed retailers or pharmacies.

In a radio interview, Peter Steemers, owner of Steemers-O’Leary’s News in Wexford, explained retailers shouldn’t have to hold all the responsibility. “There’s a tobacco selling licence on the horizon, but why do retailers have to bear the brunt for our customers?” he said.

“They should make the smoker have a licence to smoke. Why should we sponsor their smoking?”

In a report published this year by the Health Service Executive, it reported 63% of respondents to a public survey favoured tobacco sales being banned from local shops, newsagents, off-licences and petrol stations.

However, Steemers said any future plans to introduce a licence would put even more pressure on retailers, especially those running small stores and who are already facing unmanageable cost rises. “Electricity prices have gone through the roof,” he said. “I spent thousands on upgrading my lighting to energy-saving LED, only to find myself back at the same cost, if not more.”

“Our overheads have to be justified by our retail prices. We can’t be seen as profiteering, but at the same time, we have to make a living.”

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Harrington’s Mace Ardgroom celebrates its latest revamp

Linda Stewart — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 14:21:42 +0000

Harrington’s Mace in Ardgroom, West Cork, has just undergone a well deserved revamp.

The post office, filling station and grocery store recently held a family fun day to celebrate the launch of the new-look premises at the start of the year and also hosted a Tour de Mace cycling fundraising day.

The shop has been at the heart of the Ardgroom community on the Beara peninsula in West Cork for more than 100 years and has branched out into a myriad of services over that time, offering everything from fuel, a cafe and home-made bread and cakes to hardware and local arts and crafts.

Owner Noralene Harrington and her husband John say the store was the first Post Office in Ardgroom.

“It’s been in our family since 1907 – it was set up by my great grandparents in 1907 and my grandparents had the post office.

“My mother and father took it over in 1950, Mary and Dan R Harrington.”

The current premises were set up in 1950 and a makeover was carried out in 1968, Noralene says.

“It was developed further in 1985 and 2005,” she says.

The most recent makeover began in October last year and was completed by the end of October, following negotiation with Mace who were amazing in their support and in their awareness of community and core to the development was the ethos of family business which they were totally supportive of, Noralene says.

“We have new shelving, a new shop floor, new fridges, a new off licence section – we have a full range of beers, spirits and wines.

“It’s very modern and people are very pleased with the revamp.”

During the pandemic, Harrington’s was also quick to spot the potential in foodservice and offers a 30-seater cafe with home-cooked food.

“We have seating outside which we wouldn’t have thought of before the pandemic. The seating outside is lovely with a canopy,” Noralene says.

“We offer soup and sandwiches, light food really – sweets, pastries, cakes etc. Outside catering is probably an area we could develop in but at the moment we offer light food – sandwiches and small bites.”

To read the full feature, watch out for the next issue of Ireland’s Forecourt & Convenience Retailer.

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Tesco loses legal challenge over Asda’s green light for Newtownabbey superstore

Linda Stewart — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 11:05:04 +0000

Tesco has lost a legal challenge to rival Asda being granted planning permission to build a new superstore in Newtownabbey.

High Court proceedings were brought after approval was given for the supermarket and petrol station at the former Nortel site at Monkstown Industrial Estate on the Doagh Road, Newtownabbey.

The £17.5m development is expected to generate up to 250 full-time and part-time jobs.

A judge dismissed a judicial review case centred on alleged failures and flaws in how the local authority applied relevant planning policy.

Asda was granted permission to demolish the existing building on the site and replace it with a food store, eight-bay filling station, car parking and a click-and-collect facility.

During the hearing it was claimed that the council incorrectly dealt with the issue of site selection under the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland.

The SPSS includes an objective to adopt a “town centres-first approach” for the location of future retailing, involving the application of a “sequential” assessment of possible other locations in the decision-making process.

According to Tesco’s case, the authority wrongly concluded that a potential alternative site at Abbey Trading Centre (ATC) on the Longwood Road was unavailable, therefore failing to investigate and consider the questions of suitability and viability.

But Mr Justice Scoffield held that it was neither irrational nor unfair for the council to deal with the case on the basis of information before it.

“The Tesco assertion at the Planning Committee meeting that the site was available was essentially a bald assertion made without evidence,” he said.

“In the present case, when the impugned decision was made, the ATC site was plainly unavailable in my view.”

The judge confirmed: “None of the applicant’s grounds of judicial review are made out and I dismiss the application for judicial review.”

Mr Justice Scoffield also described late interventions made by Tesco when the planning request was due to be considered as “an unsettling element”.

He added: “It is difficult to discern whether the timing of these objection letters was specifically designed as a spoiling tactic, although the court can quite see why the notice party (Asda) may harbour significant suspicions in that respect.”

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Autodiesel volumes up 2% in August – CSO

Linda Stewart — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 10:54:05 +0000

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that clearances of autodiesel in August – at 303 million litres – were 2% higher than the same time last year.

They were also 7% higher than in August 2020 when strict Covid restrictions were in place.

The CSO also said that clearances of petrol in August reached 82 million litres. This marked an increase of 4% on the same time last year, but a fall of 9% on August 2019.

Meanwhile, clearances of kerosene – which is mainly used as a home heating fuel – were 1% higher than in August.

The CSO also said that excise clearances of marked gas oil, which is mainly used for off-road purposes such as agriculture and heating of larger buildings, were 6% higher in August compared to August of last year.

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