'We all send our congratulations to the McAnallen family on this fantastic business milestone'

The McAnallen family, owners of McAnallen’s Spar Benburb, are thanking their shoppers for their support as they celebrate the 25th anniversary of trading.

The McAnallen family took over the old shop on Main Street in Benburb village in November 1999 with less than a dozen employees, and now 40 people from the local community work in the store, dedicated to serving their neighbours.

Over the past 25 years, the family has invested £2 million into the business, including opening a brand-new store built to the rear of the same site, which completed in 2019.

With some 3,500 sq. ft floor area, the new store doubled the size of the original store alongside the offering of products and services for shoppers, including a hot food and deli counter and Post Office. The new store also brought an expanded range of dairy, fresh produce and bakery ranges from local suppliers offering continued value on shoppers’ doorsteps.

In 2021, the store introduced an Off Licence and later installed two self-serve checkouts and 24-hour pumps to improve shopper experience and convenience.

Keeping their shoppers and neighbours at the heart of their silver celebrations, the store held a shopper appreciation day recently, giving away 25 exciting prizes throughout the day, including Spar vouchers, W5 family passes, premium bottles of wine and biscuits, as well as offering shoppers 25p off Barista Bar coffee on the day.

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Well-known locally, the family have made their store a hub for the local community over the past 25 years, making a huge impact to local organisations and charities. Over £100,000 has been raised through instore initiatives with the team and shoppers for a number of charities including Southern Area Hospice, Mary’s Meals, Air Ambulance NI, while the McAnallen’s SPAR has sponsored local sports teams and supported a number of local community groups and schools.

In addition to this, the late Brendan McAnallen was instrumental in the development of Henderson Group’s Heart of Our Community campaign which has seen the company install over 280 AEDs outside Spar and Eurospar stores in Northern Ireland. To date, 21 lives have been saved from the use of these defibrillators.

It holds special meaning to the family as, local readers will know, in 2004, Brendan’s son, Cormac, sadly passed away in his sleep at the age of 24 due to an undiagnosed heart condition. The McAnallen family set up The Cormac Trust to raise awareness of sudden cardiac deaths and fundraising enabled the family to donate defibrillators to local sports teams and community groups.

An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) was installed by the McAnallen’s outside the old shop on Main Street, which is available for the community 24/7, providing essential access to potentially lifesaving equipment even when the store is not open.

The McAnallen family feel very privileged to be able to serve the local community and wish to thank their shoppers for their support over the past 25 years. They would also like to wholeheartedly thank their staff who are instrumental to the smooth running of their store.

Patrick Doody, sales and marketing director at Henderson Group, which owns the Spar franchise in Northern Ireland added: “We all send our congratulations to the McAnallen family on this fantastic business milestone. They have grown a family business that sits at the core of their community, providing everyday essentials and a hub for the local area and we wish them every success for many more years to come.”