Nearby store profile: Annette

In April 2022, Nearby celebrated its first birthday so it’s quite remarkable that so soon after this milestone, the brand celebrated its 100th store opening. The store in question is Nearby Creeslough, Co. Donegal and Fionnuala Carolan spoke to owner Annette Lafferty about running a grocery store in a small rural setting

Pictured here celebrating with their team, siblings Annette and Danny Lafferty have been working with S&W Wholesale for over seven years. They recently rebranded to Nearby making them the 100th Nearby store across the country

Keeping value Nearby

Annette Lafferty and her brother Danny Lafferty jointly run Nearby Creeslough in the north east of Donegal. In this small rural village, a business like this is vital for the sustenance of the community and Annette says they have a very loyal customer base, which was further strengthened during Covid when they mutually relied on each other.

The siblings have been working with S&W Wholesale for over seven years and have only recently rebranded to Nearby making them the 100th Nearby store across the country and finding themselves at the centre of the milestone celebrations for the brand.

The Laffertys say there was no shortage of help from the wholesaler to get them over the line.

“Jason McSteen and Stephen Vincent from S&W Wholesale’s Nearby team both came down for a full week and got stuck in during the changeover. The guys were really hands on and provided the shop with the support needed to make the change as seamless as possible. We changed signage, put in a new floor and extended the off-licence and really just refreshed the whole store,” explains Annette. The store operated as normal throughout and customers are now delighted with the fresh new look and feel of their local shop.

Retailing family

The duo worked in the shop, which was run by their father Danny Senior from an early age. “I started working in the shop after school from the age of 10 so shops are all I know,” explains Annette. “I know all the customers and the craic would be good. It was always the plan for me that I would take over from my dad. This shop has been trading under the management of my dad from the early 70s, and now the baton has been handed over to myself and Danny.”

Enquiring as to how they run the store between them, Annette says that it has just naturally evolved over the years. “I see us jointly managing it but Danny says I’m the boss,” she laughs. “It’s good to have someone to blame!”

Annette and Danny’s aunt ran the post office next door to the shop until she retired in May

so they took this over and it has added another dimension to the business. “I work there two days a week and employ someone for the other three days while I’m in the shop. It’s something different. I really enjoy it and we know most of the customers by their first names as soon as they come in. Its seen as a hub of the local community,” says Annette.

Shop offering

The store has a full grocery offering, an extensive deli, a bakery, a full off-licence, an ATM and an Applegreen forecourt, everything that a small community would need.

“We were really busy during Covid, and we started doing deliveries and we are still doing them for older customers today. Everyone wanted to go to the smaller, local shops and I think the fact that we were open from 7.30am to 11pm, meant that people who were more cautious could come in earlier or later. I was always conscious of Covid and how it could impact the local community if our staff were to get it. Our staff and customers are of paramount importance to us, and we ensured that we had the correct safety measures in place to reduce the risk. Because we are in a rural setting and people would walk here, it would have been an awful loss for them if they didn’t have the local shop,” she explains.

“I always wanted us to be a one-stop-shop so if you didn’t want to go into Letterkenny to do a big shop then you didn’t have to go and we would have everything you need. We have people who would do the majority of their shopping with us and we have a couple of customers we see four or five times a day. One customer in particular, if he’s not in a few times a day, I start to worry about him!” she says.

S&W Wholesale

Nearby is certainly making an impact nationally. Reaching the 100th store in just over a year is an impressive achievement given the fact the convenience market is already quite saturated in Ireland. According to Annette, S&W is “very easy to deal with and have really packed a punch in the convenience sector”.

The biggest challenge in retailing in general is pricing and availability but the Laffertys have been shielded from this due to S&W being particularly strong on both of these.

Annette says that they would be known for their value and service in-store which is made possible from the competitive prices they receive from S&W.

We hear time and again from Nearby retailers that not having a franchise fee is a very attractive element of being with the brand. But Annette says that the flexibility is just as important and something you would not get from “the bigger boys”. “We buy most of our stock from S&W anyway as the pricing is really good. Supply is also very good and a lot of suppliers and wholesalers are struggling,” she states.

The store uses several local suppliers mainly for meat and bread products including Stephen Kerr’s Lamb, Noone’s Chicken, the Highland Bakery and McGettigan’s Bakery from Letterkenny

Keeping it local

The Laffertys use a few local suppliers mainly for meat and bread products including Stephen Kerr’s Lamb, Noone’s Chicken, the Highland Bakery and McGettigan’s Bakery from Letterkenny.

There are “northern lines” like soda bread and potato farls that sell well in the summertime with the influx of Northern holiday makers. The next village down the road from Creeslough is Dunfanaghy which would be a real tourist spot and the area is full of holiday homes and this benefits the business in the summer months. The Irish Legends Golf is held in nearby Downings each year and Annette says they always “get a bounce out of that and it helps everybody,” she explains.

Due to the extra population during the summer months, the orders for the shop increase accordingly for the few months but one area of the shop where they’ve seen a decline in recent years is newspapers. “Every summer I used to increase the paper order to keep up with demand during the tourist season. However, I haven’t increased this order during the last two years. A certain age group will still get the paper however, many young people don’t buy papers.” In contrast, greeting cards have seen a sharp increase since Covid and especially since they took on the post office.

Marketing

Nearby has a very strong marketing team and that’s one of the main elements that encouraged the Laffertys to move to the brand. “The social media side is brilliant and something we probably couldn’t have done ourselves,” Annette says. “We would need somebody in full time, just to see to that side of it. They have a great handle on that. They can personalise something for you and know how to reach the best audience for your store. We have a campsite across the road that has been increasing in capacity over the last number of years. The Nearby digital team have the ability to geo target specific areas and attract new and existing customers to our store, and we have noticed an impact from this. You can see a direct impact from a Facebook ad as people are always on their phones,” she says.

With winter approaching, Annette says, “It’s probably sensible to expect it to be a tough one with so many unknowns around the price of oil and rising household bills. I think it’s sensible to have some concerns as it’s going into the unknown and we don’t know where it will stop. The price of oil is immoral, and I think some people will suffer this winter.”

Experiencing a natural lift with their revamped store and new brand, the Laffertys look forward to being there for their local customers this winter and beyond. With the strong partnership they have with S&W and the Nearby retail team, they will continue to offer great service and value to this small Donegal community. ■

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