Doug Thompson of SuperValu Knocklyon was an extremely popular and thoroughly deserving recipient of the ‘Supermarket Manager of the Year – Large’ award at the 2023 National Grocery Management Awards. When we touched base with the manager of SuperValu’s flagship Dublin store to discuss his second Supermarket Manager of the Year award inside three years, we discovered that Doug is also an engaging interviewee.
SuperValu Knocklyon general manager Doug Thompson is the archetypal team player first and foremost. When he was presented with the prestigious ‘Supermarket Manager of the Year – Large’ award at the 2023 National Grocery Management Awards in The Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire on Thursday night, May 18th, the affable Australia native immediately dedicated the award to his colleagues at SuperValu Knocklyon – SuperValu’s flagship Dublin store, which is owned and operated by the Musgrave Group and commands a prominent place at the very heart of the local community.
“It was a privilege to attend the awards and a great honour to receive this award, which reflects the work that not only I do but that the entire team here does every day,” notes the man who also collected a Supermarket Manager of the Year award previously in 2020. “It really is all about the team and for me being there on the night to accept this award on their behalf was an unbelievable honour.
“The highlight for me was being able to take the award back to the store on the Friday and present it to the team. Everybody was delighted that SuperValu Knocklyon had been selected and there was a great buzz in the store that day – which is nothing new, really – and we all had our photos taken with the award and celebrated the win accordingly.
“We have a very cohesive team and we do celebrate these awards. The store has won multiple awards since its relaunch last year and we had a shelf put in place specially to hold these awards. This one sits happily on that shelf next to the others!”
The totally revamped (in 2022) flagship Supervalu store on Knocklyon Road delivers a modern, sustainable, vibrant, fresh, affordable and customer-friendly grocery shopping experience across some 15,000 square feet. The general manager works closely alongside a team of 145 colleagues, including no fewer than ten other in-store managers who report directly to him.
Of course, running a key retail outlet is not about winning awards but looking after customers and staff: “There are two non-negotiables for me: happy customers and a happy team,” Doug stresses. “If you manage those two, then you are on your way to running a pretty successful store. My team are very experienced, they know the customers and they are all very personable. Some of my colleagues have been here 20 years and they know the customers well and go out of their way to look after them.”
Doug himself has been in Ireland for five years and SuperValu Knocklyon is the fourth SuperValu store he has managed in that time, having joined the team in January, 2022 – a landmark year in the store’s history as it was relaunched as SuperValu’s flagship Dublin store – an exemplar of the future of retail revolutionising grocery shopping with a transformed food and enhanced sustainable experience.
Hand in hand with that relaunch, SuperValu noted that its new food experience-based store would allow customers to enjoy easier and simpler grocery shopping, combined with more sustainable choices. From the point of entry at SuperValu Knocklyon, customers experience a taste-of-local range, to plant-based alternatives, as well as a home eco-range. The state-of-the-art store provides customers with a new, innovative delicatessen, a bakery, meal solutions and fresh food offerings, alongside the renowned Happy Pear and Donnybrook Fair ranges.
SuperValu’s standard-setting branch in Knocklyon – one of 44 SuperValu stores in Dublin – also operates on 100% green electricity and runs on LED lighting made from recycled CDs, using 60% less energy than standard systems.
Prior to coming to Ireland, Doug Thompson accumulated a wealth of experience in retail management, working as store manager for Coles at various locations across Australia and also serving as regional manager for Kmart Australia in Auckland, New Zealand.
“Ensuring availability at all times is key,” he states, elaborating further on the secrets to effective, award-winning grocery store management. “It’s important to make sure that the shelves are always fully stacked and this is something I’m very passionate about with my team. You have to be able to engage on price, too, and the unique market feel and good vibe we have in the fresh food department at SuperValu Knocklyon is huge.
“Other standout features of the store includes its sustainability; running on 100 per cent renewable electricity and using LED bulbs across the entire store. We’re very green and we also pride ourselves on using a large range of local suppliers in Dublin. We have 49 local suppliers at the moment and 75 per cent of our products are sourced in Ireland. So we’re very local and our taste-of-local section is one of the biggest and busiest in the SuperValu network.
“Being a flagship store, last year was a very involved year here and we were constantly in the spotlight during the year, hosting conferences and visitors, while SuperValu’s sustainability launch also took place here. As store manager, this year has been a very exciting one for me to drive things forward and learn how to trade the store. We have a very positive growth rate, which we are very happy with considering that these are obviously difficult times with inflation and the cost of living crisis.”
SuperValu Knocklyon is engrained into the very fabric of the local community and this is something that Doug is also extremely proud of: “We do a lot of work with local sports clubs and are a major sponsor of the Ballyboden St Enda’s senior hurlers. We also work closely with Knocklyon Network, which is a local neighbourhood group, with whom we collaborate extensively on how we can best improve and enhance the community and the neighbourhood,” Doug concludes.
“We also sponsor their Local Heroes Awards, which were launched last October. I’m honoured to be one of the judges who helps to choose a Local Hero every month from an impressive list of worthy nominees. That’s been another very successful local initiative and is one we’re delighted to be associated with, as ultimately grocery retail is all about people and community.”
SuperValu Knocklyon demonstrably leaves no stone unturned in terms of serving the local community in any way possible. It’s a mutually-beneficial relationship that works well for all parties … and a multi-award-winning one too!
SuperValu Knocklyon,
Knocklyon Road,
Templeogue village,
Dublin 16.
Tel: 01 4942421
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Knocklyon
First published in Grocery & Retail Ireland magazine Vol 2 No 1, Summer 2023
