The Twohig family officially re-launched their newly renovated Twohig’s SuperValu Kanturk store on 25 April last. Maev Martin talks to father and son team, Michael Twohig Snr and Michael Twohig Jnr, about what’s new in-store, including their revamped first aisle and an upgraded path to purchase for shoppers.
The new store is now offering an extended range of quality produce that can be found at its new look deli, bakery and meat counters, and well as among its convenient meals solutions offering, and new Taste of Local and off-licence sections.
Work began on site in May 2023 and has included the revamp of a county council car park which was a condition of the planning permission.
“The last major revamp was in 1998, and while there have been smaller upgrades since then, we needed extra space, and a revamped fresh food first aisle,” says Michael Twohig Senior.
“The fresh side of the house is very important to our customers and is a strategic part of our offering.
“We wanted to give that a boost by having a better breadth of products available to our shoppers and by creating more space.
“Prior to the revamp, space was at a premium, so looking at how much extra space we could squeeze out of every nook and cranny was a big focus, and that has really paid dividends for us.
“The store was just short of 11,000 square feet before the revamp, and it is now almost 16,000 square feet.
“Another priority was improving the customer journey around the store.”
Twohig’s SuperValu Kanturk continued to trade during the revamp.
“Ensuring that the doors remained open and that people could continue to shop was crucial for us,” he says.
“We always considered the impact on shoppers of any changes or moves that we made with the builders or shop fitters – whether they could enter with ease, access goods and checkout seamlessly – and thankfully it worked out well.
“The revamp finished in April 2024, so we were applying the finishing touches right up to the official opening date.”
What’s New?
Twohig’s SuperValu Kanturk’s new first aisle is wide and spacious with large, high ceilings, giving shoppers an authentic food hall experience.
“In many ways, it looks like a separate shop within a shop,” says Michael Twohig Senior. “Our ambient sections and dairy are in the older part of the store.”
The revamp has also resulted in a new Taste of Local zone, where shoppers can find the vast selection of suppliers in the Duhallow and north Cork region that are supported by the store.
They have also added a self-serve hot food bar called ‘Filled to the Brim,’ and established a carvery section that serves beef, bacon and turkey, accompanied by mash and vegetables options.
“We have also introduced a cheese counter with fresh cut cheese, which operates as a self-serve unit within the deli counter, as well as a SuperValu Prepared by our Butcher counter,” he says.
“And in that same zone, shoppers can find a wide selection of ready meals, ranging from options that are protein-rich to premium Donnybrook Fair offerings, so we have a broad range of meal solutions for the evening, including Caramico Pizza.
“The store also features a much improved and enhanced bakery offering from our scratch bakery. We now sell a much broader range of breads and fresh cakes that are made in store, and we also have so much more space to display these products.”
Serving And Supporting Local
The Twohig family has been serving the community in Kanturk and its environs since 1955, when Paddy and Eilish Twohig opened a small grocery store called The White House on Main Street.
“My father started with a tiny store and the business has been in the family since then,” says Michael Twohig Senior.
“He moved to a larger premises in 1964, creating the first self-service shop in the town, and in 1970 we moved to the premises we are in today.
“This is the fourth addition of different properties to this store over the years.”
Twohig’s SuperValu has also played an active role in the Kanturk community over the past 69 years, supporting many local charities and teams, including local GAA and sports clubs in Kanturk and Duhallow, as well as the local TidyTowns.
Apart from being the owner of Twohig’s SuperValu in Kanturk, Michael Senior and Junior are directors of the Twohig Group of SuperValu stores, which also includes stores in Abbeyfeale and Askeaton in Co. Limerick.
“We employ 104 people in the Kanturk store, 63 in Askeaton, and 64 in Abbeyfeale, as well as employees who work in two post offices that we operate, so we currently employ 232 people across all group activities,” says Michael Twohig Senior.
“Our Abbeyfeale and Askeaton stores have undergone significant makeovers in recent years, but we will be introducing new initiatives to those stores over the coming years.
“We are also keen to further advance the sustainability agenda, and while we have completed some work in Abbeyfeale and Askeaton in terms of lighting and refrigeration, in particular, we are planning more work into the future.”
Sustainability Commitment
The Twohig’s SuperValu team are committed to sustainability and went to great lengths to be as environmentally conscious as possible in designing the new look store in Kanturk.
“Customers expect retailers to be focused on sustainability, so we have responded to that,” says Michael Twohig Junior.
“For example, our LED lights give the store a bright and modern look.
“We have also installed a modern refrigeration system with doors, and since the doors have been installed we have experienced a 75% decrease in energy usage in our refrigeration.
“The energy efficient measures that we have introduced have resulted in a 20% reduction in our carbon emissions, and a 25% reduction in the store’s electricity bills.
“We have also added Electronic Shelf Edge Labels for displaying our pricing and that has reduced our paper usage by about 7,000 pieces of paper over the course of the year.
“Also, a lot of customers want convenience, so we have six self-service checkouts in the store, along with four large manned checkouts and one express till, which is also manned.”
Two large reverse vending machines (RVMs) are situated in the car park area of Twohig’s Kanturk store.
They also have two smaller RVMs, which are located within their store in Askeaton, and one RVM in their Abbeyfeale store.
“We have been pleasantly surprised at how strong the uptake of DRS has been across all three stores,” he says.
“Our rollout of DRS has been pretty smooth so far.
“The bins in our machines are filling up quickly and we are emptying them every day.
“We had a recyclable target of 70% – that was the target for all the products in scope that can be used in this machine – and we are hitting that.”
Impact On Sales
Following the official opening of the store on Thursday, 25 April, Twohig’s SuperValu Kanturk hosted a family fun day in-store on Saturday, 27 April.
“Over that weekend, we experienced a big uplift in footfall, including new shoppers that haven’t been in the store before,” says Michael Twohig Senior.
“We experienced a big jump in turnover in the week following the opening of the store, which would have been the May Bank Holiday weekend last year.
“We found that the store was up by about 7% on turnover compared to the long weekend last year and the brand was up by 3%.
“The one thing about our revamp is that we lost very little turnover during the revamp, which was absolutely amazing.
“That was because our shoppers understood that we were doing something very important for the centre of the town, so their support was truly incredible.
“This revamp future proofs our business in our town centre location, and I have no doubt that our neighbouring businesses will see an uplift in their trade as well.
“A lot of county councils have changed their planning approach to retail location and we welcome that because we are trying to once again encourage development in the centre of towns.
“Many town centres around the country have been decimated from a business point of view as a result of planning policy, so it is great to see that changing now.”
Taking Waste Out Of The Business
Michael Twohig Jnr worked part-time in Twohig’s SuperValu Kanturk throughout his school years and while he was at college.
He then completed a Masters in Supply Chain Management and applied to the Kerry Foods graduate programme where he worked for six years, initially in Dublin and then in Mexico, followed by a stint in Chicago before returning to the family business at the end of 2019.
“I arrived back just in time for the Covid pandemic and I have been working in the business ever since,” he says.
“I am now a director of the business, along with my father.
“During my time with Kerry Foods, I worked as a process analyst, so a lot of what I learned there has been very beneficial to the family business.
“In the last year and a half, the Musgrave Group has initiated a project around operational efficiencies in store, from packing to deli and meat counters.
“It is all about how to take waste out of the business.
“In my role in Kerry, I was involved in a lot of lean management type projects, so we have now installed new lean management processes in our stores in Askeaton and Abbeyfeale.
“Now that the revamped is finished, creating those operational efficiencies at our store in Kanturk will be a big focus for us over the next six months.”
