Greg Kuderski deservedly picked up the prestigious Store Manager of the Year award at the 2024 Pride of Centra Awards. Currently manager at Herlihy’s Grand Parade, the personal Polish native was quick to share the recognition with his colleagues not just in the busy Cork city store but across the extended Herlihy Group.
Recognising and celebrating the best of Centra stores, its people and exemplary retail excellence, the 2024 Pride of Centra Awards took place in the Dublin Royal Convention Centre on Wednesday night, November 6th. The winners were selected from over 490 Centra locations across Ireland, and Greg Kuderski did the Herlihy Group proud by taking the coveted Store Manager of the Year award back to Cork.
Greg has been part of the Herlihy Group team for coming up on 20 years and has had the distinction of managing no fewer than four of their Centra Stores during this time, including two during the course of 2024 – the brand-new North Main Street store and the brisk, late-opening Herlihy’s Grand Parade.
Upon being named as Pride of Centra Store Manager of the Year, he was quick to pay tribute to his colleagues: “It’s a huge honour and privilege to get this award and great to be recognised at national level for the work we do, but I have to stress that it’s a team effort. This award is for all of the team.
“I have been lucky enough to have been manager of four shops so far and each member of my team in all of those stores has taught me something important. This award is not just for me – it is for every one of them too and also for the Herlihy Group, who are fantastic to work for.”
Employing over 300 people in Cork city and county, the Herlihy Group currently comprises eight Centra stores: in Bishopstown, Mallow, Fermoy and on Grand Parade, Oliver Plunkett Street, St Patrick’s Street and the brand-new North Main Street outlet which opened in February, 2024.
As well as consistently delivering an unrivalled retail experience to the many communities they serve in terms of convenience, choice, value and service, the Group – fronted by brothers Kevin and Brian Herlihy – is also a major local employer and sponsor of countless local teams, events and good causes.
“We have a team of 20 here in Grand Parade and each of them is a big part of the success we enjoy,” Greg continues. “We have a lot of experience from senior team members but the more recent arrivals also have a big input. Everybody works together.”
The key to being a good store manager? Is it difficult to get the balance right between being a friend and also having to motivate people? “I suppose the secret is to be firm but fair and to treat everybody equally, with the same respect. Staff need to feel that they are being treated in a fair way and without singling anybody out. No favouring anybody; everyone is equal.”
As one of the Group’s four city-centre stores, Herlihy’s Grand Parade is always a hive of activity, with a large footfall coming through the doors morning, noon – and night! “As there aren’t a lot of people living in the city centre, customers living locally are only a small – but important – part of our business,” Greg notes. “We get a lot of people who are working in the city centre in other businesses or who are in the city centre for the day shopping. University students are also crucial to our business.”
Healthy fresh food to go has become a vital component of convenience stores. “Our modern deli and bakery departments prepare very high quality fresh food daily. We have customers dropping in for healthy food all the time and our staff in those departments are very committed to making sure they look after every customer with the most nutritious products and best service.”
Opened in 2005, Herlihy’s Grand Parade introduced Deliveroo in 2019 and continues to thrive and move forward annually on the back of innovation and outstanding customer service. “We’re famous for our breakfast rolls and have achieved record-breaking figures on Deliveroo for them,” Greg adds. “With the late-night opening on Friday and Saturday nights, revellers and pub goers can call in and get whatever they want. Everything here is geared towards giving the best-possible customer service.”
Reflecting on his own extensive career within the Herlihy Group, Greg reveals: “I came to Ireland in February, 2006 and started with Herlihy’s as a sales assistant in Mallow. After a couple of years, I was promoted to trainee manager. The late Paul Herlihy was my mentor and the man behind the expansion of the Herlihy Group – we all owe him a lot.
“I was then assistant manager in Mallow and in 2013 was presented with an offer to take over the Millstreet store, where I was manager for six years. After that, I spent five years managing in Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork city, which was an exciting experience.
“In February 2024, we opened our brand-new store on North Main Street – our fourth city-centre location. It was very exciting and challenging at the same time to create a brand-new store from scratch. We opened for business on St Valentine’s Day, February 14th, after a construction period of just eight weeks. It was a great experience working on that project alongside Kevin and Brian. I had the responsibility of recruiting the staff and also managed the new store from launch.
“Once we got good traction there, I was transferred here to Grand Parade in August and I’ve really enjoyed being here since. The owners, the staff and the customers are all great and it’s going really well.”
Twenty-twenty-four was a successful and busy, award-winning year for Herlihy’s Grand Parade and Greg is fully focused on making sure that ’25 is just as good: “We are aiming to move forward and to continue to be a beacon for convenience retail in Cork city centre,” the 2024 Pride of Centra Store Manager of the Year concludes.
Herlihy’s Grand Parade,
81-83 McHugh House,
Grand Parade,
Cork city.
Tel: 021 4275 399
Web: www.herlihycentra.ie
First published in Grocery & Retail Ireland magazine Vol 4 No 1, Spring 2025
featured, Herlihy’s Grand Parade
