Superquinn Select - the name for Superquinn's convenience store concept -will be a miniature of the company's larger supermarkets. Gretchen Friemann reports

When Superquinn's forecourt initiative with Texaco flopped 18 months after it was launched, many in the industry questioned whether the company still possessed the competitive edge to take on the multi-national big-guns that now dominate and shape the market.

Last year's failure of the SuperQ brand topped a series of embarrassing hitches and u-turns on well-publicised strategies that had failed to deliver on initial promises.

For one, the new €35 million distribution centre in Blanchardstown was overdue and over-budget, and suppliers reported delays in getting their products to Superquinn's shelves.

Then there was the Tusa fiasco. Originally intended to offer financial services for supermarket shoppers, the joint-venture with TSB was publicly declared a flop by Superquinn's founder, Mr Feargal Quinn and the strategy has since been abandoned.

No wonder then that his son and deputy chairman, Mr Eamonn Quinn, is keen to skirt around the recent problems and focus instead on what the company hopes will become a lucrative revenue spinner, its new convenience store concept, Superquinn Select.

Billed as a miniature to the company's larger supermarkets, Mr Quinn is anxious to stress this latest departure is founded on new synergies established within the business over the last few years as well as on sound customer research.

In his slick suit and sporting an après-ski tan, Mr Quinn explains why the convenience store format is crucial to the company's growth.

He said: "Our own company research shows customers would like to shop with us but sometimes they can't get to us.

"We're not in areas that they can reach because we only have 19 stores. So there's a demand there for our products that we're not currently supplying.

"We know there's quite a lot of people in small towns outside of Dublin that would like to buy our product but we can't afford to put a standard sized Superquinn in those areas."

So the answer is to downsize to smaller stores as Superquinn's main competitors have done for the last five years.

However, Mr Quinn remains unfazed at the rapid acceleration in competition in the convenience sector, arguing the company's mantra is to focus on its customers rather than its competitors. He stresses the smaller format will not necessitate price rises despite the high overheads urban properties impose.

The new distribution centre, a source of much pain recently as it was fazed into the business, is now up and running he explains, and is capable of supplying the new stores with no change to the company's cost base.

"We've worked very hard in terms of our costs bases. We've put in a distribution centre and we have invested in new technology to centralise our operational networks. So we'll be using the company's resources to manage the convenience stores. We're not starting from scratch," he said.

But Mr Quinn does concede those urban centres on higher rents will have to work harder than stores in outer suburban centres.

The announcement by the company to locate its inaugural Superquinn Select store in the Charlesland Centre, a new housing development area located between Greystones and Wicklow, is likely to typify the locations Superquinn targets.

As Mr Larry Brennan, a director in HOK's commercial property division, advises: "Neighbourhood developments are exactly the area where the convenience store format is thriving."

Superquinn, widely acclaimed for its innovation in Irish retailing, claims it will maintain a flexible attitude to the development of its new business.

Stores will be tailored to customer requirements so, according to Mr Quinn, city-centre outlets may have a greater focus on coffee and sandwiches, "depending on what the balance of trade dictates".

The size range for the stores is set at between 464-929 sq m (5,000-10,000 sq ft), with smaller units slotting into city centre properties while the larger are reserved for the suburban stores.

"What we're trying to do," he said, "is bring the Superquinn product into a convenient environment. So the things Superquinn are strong on you can expect to see there. So expect to see fresh bread, a range of different meats, certainly convenience foods, and of course the usual convenience products such as newspapers."

The company will also offer as wide a range as possible of its organic fare.

As experts predict further consolidation in the fast-growing convenience store sector, Superquinn is betting the €20 million earmarked for shop fit-out will provide enough of a boost to spearhead its growth in the market. Mr Quinn said he saw no reason why the 10-store roll-out planned over the next two to three years couldn't grow to 30, 40 or 50 outlets in five years.

So far, the family shopping empire only operates 19 stores, substantially smaller than the mushrooming networks of its competitors.

According to Mr Quinn, this is because the company is private and doesn't seek expansion for the sake of it. He said: "Our objective isn't just to open stores; it's to make sure we do good business in the stores that we're in."