Dunne’s Centra in Stamullen, Co. Meath was one of the big winners at the 2024 Pride of Centra Awards which were held in the Dublin Royal Convention Centre on November 6 last.
As well as being shortlisted for the prestigious ‘National Centra Store of the Year’, Dunne’s Centra won both the Off-Licence Neighbourhood and Off-Licence Overall Awards. The Pride of Centra Awards recognise and celebrate the best of Centra stores, its people and exemplary retail excellence.
Commenting on the awards ceremony, Centra Managing Director Luke Hanlon said: “As Ireland’s leading convenience retailer, with a dedicated team of approximately 12,000 employees across over 490 stores nationwide, we are incredibly proud to celebrate the remarkable individuals and teams who bring Centra to life, every day in every community. These are the people who embody our values and play a crucial role in telling our story, ensuring that each Centra store feels like a vital part of the town it serves.”
Centra Sales Director Cormac Dawson added: “The awards fall into four categories, the ‘People’ category, which celebrates those who go above and beyond – like our Length of Service honourees and our Employee of the Year. ‘Food Safety’, celebrating champions of quality and care. Then there’s the ‘Excellence’ category. This shines a light on the stores that truly bring the best of Centra to life, whether it’s through Deli, Moo’d ice cream, Bakery, Off-licence or local activations. These stores showcase our commitment to quality and variety.
“And finally, the ‘Store of the Year’ award celebrates the stores that set the standard for what convenience retailing should be, delivering an outstanding experience to our customers day in and day out. Congratulations to everyone involved – your dedication makes Centra a valued part of communities across Ireland.”
Part of the fabric of Stamullen since 2002, Dunne’s Centra was delighted with its double success which came on the back of a major store revamp in 2023. As part of the refurbishment, a new chilled walk-in off-licence was added to ensure the full range of drinks are already chilled and ready for consumption.
“We were thrilled to be a finalist for ‘Centra Store of the Year’ and to have won the ‘Off-Licence Neighbourhood’ and ‘Off-Licence Overall’ Awards,” Dunne’s Centra owner Gary Dunne enthuses.
“Our chilled walk-in off-licence is one of only three in Centra stores across the country, so that was recognised by the judges along with the efforts of our off-licence manager Jacinta Kavanagh and the rest of our amazing team. We have seen a 10% increase in white wine and 62% increase in craft beer sales in particular since opening our chilled walk-in off-licence. It’s always fully stocked with all your favourites.”
The revamp also enabled Dunne’s Centra to broaden its selections of top-quality offerings in the deli and bakery to better serve the local community. To enhance the customer experience, the store introduced a more seamless shopping experience featuring an expanded food-to-go range paired with quicker transactions at self-scan checkouts.
“We increased the overall floor space, including storage, from 5,983 sq. ft. to 8,200 sq. ft. We introduced a brand new ready meal section complete with a 5 metre deck cabinet from Coolrite, and hot grab-and-go food service where you don’t have to queue. Our fruit and veg, meat and health food offerings have also been extensively enhanced to allow for a better shopping and browsing experience.”
Other popular features of Dunne’s Centra are a Moo’d ice cream counter, Frank and Honest Coffee station, in-store Post Office, ATM and lotto which makes it a favourite destination of all ages. It employs 40 people between full-time and part-time, and is a sister store of Dunne’s Centra Ardee which Gary took over in 2017 and, at 10,000 sq. ft., is slightly larger. Interestingly, the Ardee store also won the ‘Off-Licence Neighbourhood’ Award in 2019.
The Stamullen store revamp was originally due to take place in 2020, only for the Covid-19 pandemic to intervene.
“It was probably a blessing in disguise that it didn’t happen then because customers’ shopping habits have changed greatly since Covid,” Gary says.
“We drilled down through the figures and saw areas where improvements would be more beneficial to us. We’ve gained a lot from these enhancements and have seen an increase in footfall as more and more customers shop with us rather than going to bigger neighbouring towns like Balbriggan and Drogheda.”
Dunne’s Centra Stamullen’s mission is to provide customers with the best quality and prices as well as a friendly and enjoyable shopping experience. The commuter-belt store is bright, spacious, well laid-out and easy to shop in, and places a strong emphasis on fresh foods. It also has a large selection of specialty foods and stocks a wide variety of wines and beers in its off-licence from local, national and international producers. Furthermore, the store combines the best of Centra’s own grocery brands with the leading brands.
“It’s a real team effort. Our people are our greatest asset and we’d be nothing without them or our customers who support us on a daily basis,” the affable Ardee man adds.
Dunne’s Centra Stamullen and Ardee are proud to be part of Ireland’s leading convenience retail group serving over 3.5 million customers per week. At the heart of the communities in which it operates, Centra has sponsored the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship since 2010 and also supports countless local sporting and community groups across the country. Centra is part of Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland, the retail franchise division of Musgrave Group, which is one of Ireland’s largest grocery and food distributors.
Opening hours in Stamullen are 7am to 10pm Monday-Saturday and 8am to 10pm on Sundays.
Dunne’s Centra Stamullen
Main Street,
Stamullen,
Co. Meath,
K32 X431.
Telephone: 01 883 4202
Facebook: dunnescentrastamullen
First published in Grocery & Retail Ireland magazine Vol 4 No 1, Spring 2025
