Musgrave SuperValu-Centra will create 200 jobs at a new distribution centre in Co Kildare, the Cork-based group said yesterday. The 150,000-sq ft centre at Kilcock will cost €34 million.
Musgrave said the centre would open in mid-2004, subject to planning permission. It has submitted a planning application to Kildare County Council to develop the centre on a 21-acre site.
With the turnover at more than 500 independent stores operating under the SuperValu and Centra brands rising 17 per cent last year to €2.1 billion, the group said it needed to enhance its logistics infrastructure.
Earlier this month, it completed the acquisition for €270 million of the 55 per cent share in the British retailer Budgens that it did not already own.
One of the largest privately-owned companies in the State, with a significant wholesale business, the Musgrave group had sales last year of more than €2.2 billion and operating profits of €57.3 million. Its pre-tax profit was €47.1 million, with underlying profits up 23 per cent.
In addition to its Budgens and Irish operations, it also has a business in Spain.
The Kilcock site was selected after a feasibility study in which a number of alternatives were analysed.
Musgrave cited its proximity to the Dublin-Sligo N4 route, its location in relation to the retail outlets and the availability of a local workers. The developer is the Bennett Group.
The centre will comprise ambient warehousing - for goods which do not require refrigeration - loading bays, offices and a canteen.
In 1998 Musgrave spent €35 million developing a 65,000-sq ft chilled-food distribution centre in Lucan, Dublin, and another in Cork of 55,000 sq ft. It manages more than 220,000 sq ft of additional ambient warehousing elsewhere.
Musgrave SuperValu-Centra is the retail franchise division of the Musgrave group, which already employs some 1,600 people in distribution and warehousing.
The group centralises the purchase of stock for the group and provides marketing, management information, technology and store development services for retailers.
There are 207 SuperValu outlets and 374 Centra stores on both sides of the Border.
The group claims 24 per cent of the grocery market in the Republic and 12 per cent in Northern Ireland.
While the company has said there is little further scope to expand the SuperValu franchise but potential still to develop Centra.
Sales at supermarkets in the Centra chain were €652.6 million. The Centra outlets claim 7 per cent of the overall supermarket business in the Republic, which is worth about €9 billion annually.
Musgrave attributes the growth of the SuperValu and Centra businesses to greater reliance on convenience stores by working couples. Though long mooted for flotation, the group says it wants to remain private.
