Centra to invest €23M in store expansion programme

Young Fionn MacGillycuddy is pictured at the annual Centra Conference at The Great Southern, Killarney, Co. Kerry along with Ian Allen, MD Centra; Ian Cuddihy, Centra Council Chair and Cormac Dawson, Sales Director Centra, where the announcement of a €23 million investment in its store expansion programme was outlined. (Picture: Sally MacMonagle)

A store expansion programme which will see an investment of €23 million will see Centra, Ireland’s leading convenience retailer, grow its nationwide presence with the opening of 18 new stores.

Creating at least 468 new jobs across local communities, the retailer will also revamp and refresh 35 existing stores this year, with their bespoke award-winning store design.

2022 saw sales of over €1.98 billion achieved for the first time across 167 million consumer transactions. The brand has demonstrated strong resilience in the face of the ever-increasing economic challenges, which has resulted in a 17% increase in sales compared to 2019, the last non-Covid-19 impacted retail year.

This year and beyond, Centra will continue its focus to innovate and enhance its offerings to consumers. In addition, sustainability will continue to be a leading priority for Centra, with 96% of own-brand product packaging now recyclable, reusable or compostable, which positions the business ahead of targets to achieve 100% green packaging by 2025.

Centra’s store expansion and investment programme is in addition to the €25 million deployed last year which included the refresh of 33 outlets across its world-class retail estate.