Connacht Tribune
Bargain hunters shop around as cost of living crisis bites
Local supermarket shoppers are becoming less rigid about their loyalty to well-known brands and much savvier when it comes to snapping-up special offers and deals on groceries.
That’s according to one of County Galway’s most successful retailers – and Michael McInerney of SuperValu in Loughrea said the rising cost of living, particularly energy prices, was changing consumer habits.
He said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the future retail landscape although the War on Ukraine could continue to hit sentiment in the next six months.
A cold winter, with spiralling energy prices, was another threat on the horizon.
But Mr McInerney, whose newly revamped SuperValu anchors Loughrea Shopping Centre, said the combined retail offering of its town centre coupled with the variety of stores at the shopping centre, gave Loughrea an edge to rival other towns of its size in the West – and even Galway City.
With inflation running at levels not seen since the 1980s, Mr McInerney confirmed shoppers who were traditionally very loyal to brands were less rigid now.
“People are using more own-brand products, and they are shopping more on special offers. So if you’re a Lyons’ Tea drinker, and there’s a special offer on Barry’s Tea on a given week, you’ll change to Barry’s handy enough when you see there’s a half price deal in front of you,” Mr McInerney said.
He said shoppers in SuperValu who use their app, switch to own brand and who avail of special offers can save €65 every week.
Mr McInerney insisted that SuperValu charged the same or cheaper than Aldi and Lidl on many products.
“They may have 1,500 products and we have 15,000, and not all our products are own brand and not all are on special offer. So if you come in and start buying the more premium lines, which you can’t get elsewhere, that’s maybe where there’s a misconception about our price position.
“But we’re trying to educate the customer that they can actually save if you have discipline. You can take €65 off your shopping each week with own brand, special offers, and the Supervalu app,” he said.
Despite the impact of the Ukraine War which followed on from Covid-19’s blow to retail, Loughrea Shopping Centre has expanded to include a variety of stores including Aldi, Born, Power Sports, Homeworld, High Performance Unit, The Barber Shop, Lana and Belle gift store, Pet Stop, World of Wonder, Café Jaz, Roots, Careplus and Obsession. Collectively they employ about 400, with just under 200 of them in SuperValu.
The additional shops have boosted footfall at SuperValu in Loughrea which was “over-trading”, and was “bucking the trend” of similar supermarkets, he said.
The shopping centre was also benefitting from the opening of the Plaza in Loughrea, a busy Loughrea Hotel and Spa, and the success of large local employers such as Chanelle Veterinary.
“We’ve no parking charges and can land 400 cars in our car park. We’ve a good retail offering up town as well. We’ve lots of traditional high-profile retailers in the town centre and now also a very modern offering in the shopping centre and between the two you have a retail offering that would rival anywhere,” Mr McInerney said of Loughrea.
He insisted that the shopping centre complemented the offering of retail outlets in the town centre rather than taking away from it.
“Our weekly footfall is over 30,000 per week in Loughrea Shopping Centre. The town population isn’t more than 5,000. So how could Loughrea Shopping Centre be bad for the town? We’re trying to rival Galway City; to offer the best choice and variety. Everything you’d need for a day’s shopping, it’s all there, it’s brand new, it’s modern with big spacious stores,” said Mr McInerney.
The proximity of German discounter Aldi, next door to SuperValu in Loughrea, was a positive, he said.
“We share customers. We’ve our own loyal army who go to Supervalu only. You have others who will go to Aldi only. You have a large contingent who surf between both. That’s where both stores gain. They buy certain items in Aldi and other items that they’d only buy in Supervalu, and they’re only parking the car once. You might have a cup of tea then, and maybe call to the sport store or the barbers. We’ve 30,000 transactions weekly and growing. That has to be good for the town, and not just the shopping centre,” Mr McInerney said.
Despite his positive outlook, Mr McInerney predicted a “very uncertain three to six months” ahead.
“What way will the war pan out? What way will kilowatt hours cost for the next six months? Nobody knows how that will affect people’s buying patterns, and what they put into their shopping basket.
“I think people may still change their habits, and that still has to be played out yet. But Loughrea, with the offering we have in the shopping centre, in tandem with the offering of the town, is in a better position than other similar towns with the same population that might not have the same offering as us,” added Mr McInerney.
Photo: Michael McInerney
Connacht Tribune
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Connacht Tribune
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Connacht Tribune
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.