28 STORE PROFILE
Donal Hickson, owner of the Centra store in Kilmeaden speaks to Fionnuala Carolan about the revamp he has completed on this store which was wholly inspired by his customers
A roaring success
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hate to break it to you but Kilmeaden Cheese is not made in Kilmeaden and hasn’t been for about 15 years. However the much loved cheese brand is available in-store and very much part of this story; Hickson’s Centra store was in fact an old co-op which local farmers sold their dairy produce to, and as it expanded, a general store was opened in 1920. In 1964, all of the co-ops in Waterford amalgamated, and a cheese factory was established across from the store. However, production of the cheese ceased at the Kilmeaden plant in 2005, and moved to Ballyragget, County Kilkenny. In the same year Kilmeaden cheese won a gold and bronze medal in the World Cheese Awards in London. Recently the old co-op has been transformed into one of the most state-of-the-art shops you will find in the country and its owners, Donal and Ailish Hickson are thrilled with the result. “Kilmeaden is a great success story for us,” says Donal.
Background Having spent some time in Russia in the early 90s working as a butcher, Donal came home and got a job with Dunnes Stores in Waterford where he met his wife-to-be Ailish. He left Dunnes after a couple of years and moved to Musgrave as a regional manager charting the start of his relationship with the Centra brand. Donal says that Musgrave is and has always been very supportive. “Martin Kelleher was my boss at the time and was very good to me and really looked out for me in the early days when you needed help and guidance.”
Donal and Ailish Hickson bought their first store in Tramore in 2006 and have since added three more Centra stores to their portfolio
STORE PROFILE
Retailer: Donal and Ailish Hickson Group: Hickson’s Centra Address: Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford Staff: 28 staff, 15 full-time and 13 part-time Size: 3,000sq ft Opening hours: Monday - Friday, 6.30am - 10pm; Saturday - Sunday, 7.30am - 10pm He says that the Musgrave support including store design, sales and finance, have been key to his success. “They are always checking to see how you are doing. They are very innovative and always looking at where they will be in the next five to ten years’ time. It’s not about the here and now but looking forward and I like that,” he says.
Dream realised Donal and Ailish have always had grand plans to have their own business and the dream was
An impressive new off-licence department has been added to the store, which is performing extremely well
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realised when they bought their first store in Tramore in 2006. It has been an impressive trajectory since then, adding three more Centra stores to the portfolio. Donal charts the journey, noting: “We opened Centra in Waterford in 2008 and then we bought our next store in Piltown in Kilkenny in 2010. Next, we completed number four in 2017 which was Centra Kilmeaden. It was never planned that we’d have four but it’s just the way it worked out.”
Store number four The Kilmeaden store came about by chance when Donal met the previous owner of the store, a man called Bobby Byrne. “I met Bobby a few years previously through my brother Tommy and he spoke about retiring,” he recalls. “Then he rang me out of the blue a year later and said look, I’m thinking of selling. So we met on the Friday evening and again on the Monday and by the Wednesday we had a deal put together. I knew this was a great opportunity,” he says. When they bought it they did a mini
The store’s deli has increased by 54% since the renovation was completed
