Dairygold puts €11.5m into 13 of 39 retail outlets

Dairygold is investing €11.5m enhancing 13 of its 39 stores, boosting Agri Direct, Agri E-Commerce site and other online services.

“Some stores will benefit from enhanced facilities and offerings, others will require upgrade and refurbishment,” said Dairygold head of retail, John O’Carroll.

“Others will not be invested in, in the context of long term viability and we will look to integrate these into neighbouring stores. Thirteen stores have been identified and we are now in consultation with our elected representatives, employees, customers and other stakeholders.”

The company will have a team of area sales managers acting in the field to ensure its co-op members have access to all their farm needs and service requirements.

Mr O’Carroll added: “This will provide a re-vitalised and more focused customer centric store network, fit for purpose in serving farming and customer needs in a changing retail landscape.”

The company says its coopsuperstores.ie web store is seeing a rise in retail traffic.

This investment follows a comprehensive review of all of Dairygold’s farmer-owned stores. The 13 stores chosen for investment were based upon store size, location and facilities, physical condition, upgrade or refurbishment costs, commercial performance, customer base and long term sales potential.