Superquinn to Super Valu Opinions

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Just want other people's opinions on this. I used be a loyal Superquinn shopper but I don't think the change over to Super Valu has been positive. My own local store is not a patch on the old SQ, for anything really. Thye refitted the store pretty nice but in no way is the bread, meat or fruit in the same league. It never seems as busy either (think their USP is gone, which was quality food and service). What do other people think?

gandalf

The quality has gone downhill a lot since the takeover. From my own perspective a Lidl opening up right across the road from us has also resulted in most of our spend moving there.

I tend to drop in there now if I need a specific brand or product that Lidl don't have but I don't feel compelled to go there any more.

GreatDefector

Supervalu took over a really decent store in Lucan and changed everything needlessly for the sake of change

They even closed the office they had there going back years

Like they inverted everything, aisles are horizontal instead of vertical, deli on the opposite side, etc

It really just felt like, "hey! we're supervalu and we're here to fook **** up" and just felt like it was defiance and arrogance to customers who would have been loyal to SQ

A real pointless change for the sake of it

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GreatDefector wrote: »

Supervalu took over a really decent store in Lucan and changed everything needlessly for the sake of change

They even closed the office they had there going back years

Like they inverted everything, aisles are horizontal instead of vertical, deli on the opposite side, etc

It really just felt like, "hey! we're supervalu and we're here to fook **** up" and just felt like it was defiance and arrogance to customers who would have been loyal to SQ

A real pointless change for the sake of it

Sounds like Kilkenny so too. Certain things like Frozen food I think they have even less range than SQ would have had. I'd love to see the spend when it was SQ vs now, I'd say it's way down. Often only 2 checkouts open which was never the case before.
I'm kinda the same, I've given it a chance but find myself drifting away to Tesco or Aldi/Lidl. Lidls bakery is far better than SVs now which is not something I thought I'd ever say!

L1011

Used to buy specific things in superquinn. None are what they were anymore.

Dunnes have made a huge move towards the old superquinn market

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L1011 wrote: »

Used to buy specific things in superquinn. None are what they were anymore.

Dunnes have made a huge move towards the old superquinn market

Same. Used love the odd donut . They appear to have changed/downgraded lately too.

Atlantic Dawn

For price I do think that there's better deals now that SuperValu have taken over but the quality and range of fresh meat & fish and also bakery options is not anywhere near the quality of Superquinn.

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Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

For price I do think that there's better deals now that SuperValu have taken over but the quality and range of fresh meat & fish and also bakery options is not anywhere near the quality of Superquinn.

What they should have done was kept all the SQ bits we loved, kept the name, and included all the SV own range and the offers they have. But they seemed determined to super valu it all. There's far better SV stores around the country than the one ex SQ local to me

Davidth88

Agree about the Lucan store . We used to visit there to pick up certain things and as a treat when we felt flush. We have not returned after an initial visit after the changeover because it's just the same as everywhere else now.

Reputable Rog

Limerick store is terrible now and the staff are on a compete go slow,apparently industrial relations in all the ex SQ stores are very bad since the takeover.

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Reputable Rog wrote: »

Limerick store is terrible now and the staff are on a compete go slow,apparently industrial relations in all the ex SQ stores are very bad since the takeover.

Think you're onto something. Morale seems pretty low and it shows in the store.

OU812

They should have kept the SQ name and upgraded the bigger SV stores to be SQs.

There's a couple of things in the bigger stores that you don't see elsewhere but not a whole lot:

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L1011 wrote: »

Used to buy specific things in superquinn. None are what they were anymore.

Dunnes have made a huge move towards the old superquinn market

They have, I love their Simply Better range, it's very good. They need to extend it more into ready meals/fresh food though too.

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Think myself they've really underestimated the power of SQ as a brand. It may have suffered, but to me it was still blue chip, far superior to super valu. Would it really have cost all that much to keep it and run it alongside. I doubt it. I wouldn't say the old SQ are performing well, they've already closed 2...

Reputable Rog

Apparently the Supervalu brand has always struggled in Dublin and in Limerick, Supervalu's operations in Roches Stores never performed well in either city and that was one of the reasons for retaining direct ownership of the former SQ stores as they thought it would finally give them a foothold.

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Reputable Rog wrote: »

Apparently the Supervalu brand has always struggled in Dublin and in Limerick, Supervalu's operations in Roches Stores never performed well in either city and that was one of the reasons for retaining direct ownership of the former SQ stores as they thought it would finally give them a foothold.

I wonder if they had them as franchisees would they perform any better? I don't know how the Dublin ones are doing but it doesn't sound great, i only know the Kilkenny and Carlow ones, which have been very disappointing.

punisher5112

It was a bad day when they were taken over as quality was above all the others.

I fully understand now you pay for what you get and true SQ was expensive for things not all but the food was much better.

Miss the cool little things that were delicious and even thought having the creche at some stores was a very good business idea.

athtrasna

Blanchardstown has really gone downhill since the changeover to the extent that I almost never go in there any more. Aisles are cramped and the selection is poor and the prices are high.

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athtrasna wrote: »

Blanchardstown has really gone downhill since the changeover to the extent that I almost never go in there any more. Aisles are cramped and the selection is poor and the prices are high.

Worked in D15 and was often in that store. It was excellent as SQ, one of their better ones. The bakery and meat counters were top notch. You paid a little extra for real quality but at the same time SQ always did had good offers on things. It was that combination I liked.

cml387

Just one of those things.
Fergal sold the operation to some property company who couldn't run a whelk stall.
Supervalue bought it basically to close it down.
Clonmel and Carlow are two examples of how to ruin a good business and by the way lay waste an entire shopping precinct.

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cml387 wrote: »

Just one of those things.
Fergal sold the operation to some property company who couldn't run a whelk stall.
Supervalue bought it basically to close it down.
Clonmel and Carlow are two examples of how to ruin a good business and by the way lay waste an entire shopping precinct.

They were saturated with supermarkets and had SV stores already. At least SQ brought something different. Once they were gone the stores were in danger.

Wheety

Superquinn was like our M&S. More expensive but better quality. Their fresh bread and meat was very good before the changeover.

I think they should have kept it as a different store, as their premium store. Now it's just the same as all other SuperValus. I don't think that's a good thing.

cml387

Wheety wrote: »

Superquinn was like our M&S. More expensive but better quality. Their fresh bread and meat was very good before the changeover.

I think they should have kept it as a different store, as their premium store. Now it's just the same as all other SuperValus. I don't think that's a good thing.

Remember the rumours at the time that Sainsbury's were going to buy them out.
Now that would have been the right move.

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cml387 wrote: »

Remember the rumours at the time that Sainsbury's were going to buy them out.
Now that would have been the right move.

Would have been. Unfortunately the Irish economy was still in a spin after the downturn so they were probably scared off! I thought Super valu would have made a far better go of things. They have some great stores around the country.

First Up

Their shop in Blackrock in Dublin is still pretty good and a pleasant place to shop. No question they have lost some of the old SQ distinctiveness since Musgraves took over but there is a reason SQ ceased to be - not enough people were shopping there.

Outside of the centrally owned ones, SV is a franchise operation and there is quite a lot of variation and individuality between the shops.

carneal

the quality in the veg is appaling.even seen meat past its sell by date in blackrock store still on the shelf,,.i actually travel the 15 minutes to cornelscourt to do shopping ..

Stheno

Superbly have 22% of the market share in the country which I think is the highest of any in the industry

Clareman

Stheno wrote: »

Superbly have 22% of the market share in the country which I think is the highest of any in the industry

Considering Musgraves are the wholesaler and are the only wholesaler to Tier 1 brands in Ireland I'd imagine an awful lot of the Superquinn sales are Centra's as well.

Howjoe1

Wheety wrote: »

Superquinn was like our M&S. More expensive but better quality. Their fresh bread and meat was very good before the changeover.

I think they should have kept it as a different store, as their premium store. Now it's just the same as all other SuperValus. I don't think that's a good thing.

I loved Superquinn but at its prices it was an occasional treat for me. Now that treat, is filled by the odd trip to M&S not Supervalu.

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Howjoe1 wrote: »

I loved Superquinn but at its prices it was an occasional treat for me. Now that treat, is filled by the odd trip to M&S not Supervalu.

SV is definitely not any cheaper. Just worse quality and fresh range!

westgolf

First Up wrote: »

Their shop in Blackrock in Dublin is still pretty good and a pleasant place to shop. No question they have lost some of the old SQ distinctiveness since Musgraves took over but there is a reason SQ ceased to be - not enough people were shopping there.

Outside of the centrally owned ones, SV is a franchise operation and there is quite a lot of variation and individuality between the shops.

Nail on head there. The direct managed ones - all the old SQ's - are going down the "same look every where" route whereas the individually owned franchise / licence operators are far more self invested and willing to differentiate to progress.