20 STORE PROFILE
A Gala feast for the senses!
Retailer Terry Kane is delighted with his Gala store’s new renovation which has received excellent feedback from customers
Kane’s Gala is in impressive shape, following the completion of a stunning refurbishment in April. Locals have been delighted with the store’s new one-stop-shop offering, which features a full complement of enticing concepts. A New Street Deli, Galato Ice Cream offering, Essence Coffee, Baker’s Corner and Distill Wines are all helping the store to stand out in shoppers’ minds, alongside the one area it has always excelled in: friendly customer service. “The renovation went really smoothly and we stayed open throughout,” explains retailer Terry Kane. “We had a lot of help from Stuart Perry at Perry’s Cash and Carry and our Gala representative Ray Conboy. Previously, Lisa Kenny was my rep here with Gala and she was a great help getting things ready for the renovation.” He also praises Christopher Curtin in the fresh foods team as “fantastic”.
Local connections The process started around three years ago, when “we put in an application for a small extension and that was approved”. Building works started on the extension for an in-store kitchen in July of last year and finished in November. However, the well-documented issue of staff shortages within the construction industry across Ireland and the UK also affected the store, making it difficult to source tradespeople. “People were looking for more work to be done in their houses, and that caused a knock-on effect,” says Kane. Fortunately, one of the Gala store’s regular customers stepped into the breach – illustrating once again the importance of strong local connections! Voicing frustrations with which some fellow retailers will be familiar, Kane says: “I rang four electricians and they all said they’d be in the next day ShelfLife September 2021 | www.shelflife.ie
STORE PROFILE
Group: Kane’s Gala Address: Burrin Road, Carlow Staff: 21; 15 full-time and six part-time Size: 1,500sq ft (extended from 1,200sq ft) Opening hours: Monday – Saturday: 7am-10pm; Sunday: 8am-10pm
and never turned up. But a chap who is an electrician, John Brennan, came in every day to get his breakfast. I said, ‘you wouldn’t be interested in pricing a job for me?’ and he said, ‘yeah grand, not a bother!’ He was great and he knew somebody who was a plumber then.” Talk about sparking a positive chain reaction!
Retail background When asked where his accent is from, Kane replies with a laugh: “Bit of everything, really!” Born in England; “an Essex boy”, his family moved to Naas in 1983. It is here that Kane first began his career in retail, after joining Superquinn Naas straight out of school. “My father is Irish and he wanted to come back home,” he explains. “He was actually a security guard in Superquinn Naas and he got us all into the shop I suppose! My brother Sean worked there for a few years as well.” In common with other former Superquinn alumni under the tutelage of late retail legend Feargal Quinn, Kane worked in a number of stores within the group. After starting off in Naas, he later moved to Sundrive and onto Carlow in 1994, as head butcher and part of the team opening up the Superquinn there. Based at the supermarket for approximately nine years, in 2001 he became the grocery
After completing a major renovation project in April, Kane’s Gala in Carlow has the ‘wow factor’ in spades; with a smart new appearance to match its first-class customer service. Gillian Hamill caught up with retailer Terry Kane to learn more about the 1,500sq ft store
manager up until 2003, when he decided to open his own store in April of that year.
Support from Gala Retail “There was a vacant position in Carlow on the Burrin Road here,” he says. “I was looking at it and I kept looking at it and we said we’d give it a go and that’s what we did!” In partnership with his wife Gayle, they set about opening their new venture. It was an easy decision to go with Gala, Kane recalls. “We met with Gary Desmond back then in 2003. He was a gentleman; he was just so helpful, so easy to approach and nothing was too much for him to help us out with. Now, Gary has obviously moved on to CEO of Gala Retail, and everyone who has come behind him has followed suit with the same approach, so it’s been a comfortable fit with Gala.” Their current Gala rep Ray Conboy is “always there,” he continues. “He’s down once a month or more and if you need him, he’s always at the end of the phone.”
Deli and hot food sales have increased by around 30% since the renovation, with plenty of appetising options on display
