Elaine Watson
Budgens' new owner Musgrave has pledged to double the size of the business in five years to take turnover beyond the £1bn mark.
Growth will come from a two-pronged strategy of injecting more resources into the Budgens Local franchise and stepping up the company owned store opening programme to about 20 a year.
Musgrave UK executive chairman Eoin McGettigan said he would be disappointed if there were not 200-250 Budgens Local stores by 2007/8 Â a target requiring growth rates to almost triple.
Although Budgens was some way short of its own target of 50 Budgens Local stores by summer 2002, with just 30 on the books to date, the proposition was an extremely strong one, said McGettigan. "Budgens Local gives independents something on the fresh food side that they can't get with another partner, and that gives them a real point of difference in the locality. What consumers want is local stores of a certain size that genuinely offer a credible alternative to superstore shopping. And I think Budgens does that in a way that no retail or wholesale company does in Britain."
Each new retailer that joined would act as an ambassador, and as more people came on board, momentum would build up, he added.
"We will be investing in the Budgens Local team to put more people on the ground meeting retailers to sell the message."
"Musgrave has been operating a franchising model like this for years, investing in IT and marketing support for independent retailers.
"By contrast, Budgens is only just discovering this. We can fast-track the process."
The central location of Budgens' Wellingborough distribution centre meant Musgrave could look as far north as Leeds for new sites without having to open a second depot, said McGettigan. "There is plenty of spare capacity there to support our expansion."
However, Musgrave has no plans to introduce its cash & carry operation or retail brands SuperValu and Centra to Britain, although learnings from the Irish operations can filter into the GB business.
>> See next week's issue for more details of Musgrave's plans
{{NEWS }}
Budgens' new owner Musgrave has pledged to double the size of the business in five years to take turnover beyond the £1bn mark.
Growth will come from a two-pronged strategy of injecting more resources into the Budgens Local franchise and stepping up the company owned store opening programme to about 20 a year.
Musgrave UK executive chairman Eoin McGettigan said he would be disappointed if there were not 200-250 Budgens Local stores by 2007/8 Â a target requiring growth rates to almost triple.
Although Budgens was some way short of its own target of 50 Budgens Local stores by summer 2002, with just 30 on the books to date, the proposition was an extremely strong one, said McGettigan. "Budgens Local gives independents something on the fresh food side that they can't get with another partner, and that gives them a real point of difference in the locality. What consumers want is local stores of a certain size that genuinely offer a credible alternative to superstore shopping. And I think Budgens does that in a way that no retail or wholesale company does in Britain."
Each new retailer that joined would act as an ambassador, and as more people came on board, momentum would build up, he added.
"We will be investing in the Budgens Local team to put more people on the ground meeting retailers to sell the message."
"Musgrave has been operating a franchising model like this for years, investing in IT and marketing support for independent retailers.
"By contrast, Budgens is only just discovering this. We can fast-track the process."
The central location of Budgens' Wellingborough distribution centre meant Musgrave could look as far north as Leeds for new sites without having to open a second depot, said McGettigan. "There is plenty of spare capacity there to support our expansion."
However, Musgrave has no plans to introduce its cash & carry operation or retail brands SuperValu and Centra to Britain, although learnings from the Irish operations can filter into the GB business.
>> See next week's issue for more details of Musgrave's plans
{{NEWS }}
No comments yet