Daybreak Dungarvan has been named ‘Store of the Year’ at the annual Daybreak Store of the Year Awards, which took place Wednesday, 14th February. Hosted in the Lyrath Estate Hotel Kilkenny, the awards recognise retail excellence across Daybreak stores nationwide.
Daybreak is Ireland’s fastest growing convenience group with 220 stores nationwide. All stores are independently owned by local retailers ensuring that each store can respond to the everyday needs of their local community.
Daybreak Dungarvan, located on Youghal Rd, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, is owned by Kevin Forde and employs 30 people. As well as scooping the top accolade Overall Store of the Year on the night, the store was also accredited with the Charity Merit Award for its outstanding achievement in raising over €7,000 for the Irish Heart Foundation, Daybreak’s charity partner in 2017.
Fifteen retailers were shortlisted for the overall Daybreak Store of the Year Award, which focuses on four key areas – products & services, environment, communications, and people. During the competition stores were assessed against rigorous criteria, including a series of mystery shopper audits on store standards.
As well as the coveted overall Store of the Year accolade, other awards on the night focused on key in-store categories and store layouts. The winners were:
- Best Availability Award: Daybreak Eyre Square
- Best Wine Award: Daybreak Raven Terrace, Galway City
- Best Off-Licence Award: Daybreak Clerihan
- Mystery Shopper Award: Daybreak Tractamotors
- Best Food to Go & Hot Beverage Award: Daybreak Clonliffe Road
- Best Impulse Award: Daybreak Bailieborough
- Convenience Store of the Year: Daybreak, Raven Terrace, Galway City
- Forecourt of the Year: Daybreak Drumgould
Adding to Daybreak Dungarvan’s phenomenal business success, the Dungarvan-based store was also recently awarded the highly prestigious Q Mark Emerald Standard. The National Q Mark awards are widely recognised in Ireland’s food service industry as the Oscars of Business Excellence. The Q Mark is the highest standard of food safety available in Ireland and verifies Daybreak Dungarvan’s efficiency, performance and commitment to food safety.
Speaking at the Daybreak Store of the Year awards ceremony, Thomas Morrison, Daybreak Head of Retail Sales, said:
“I would like to congratulate Kevin Forde and his hardworking team at Daybreak Dungarvan on this tremendous achievement. We are passionate about the Store of the Year awards, as they celebrate excellence in convenience retailing and highlight the great consumer experience provided across the Daybreak network. The level of competition this year was remarkable and this award win is testament to the Dungarvan team’s huge effort and commitment to providing local people with high quality service and goods.”
Daybreak Dungarvan Store owner Kevin Forde also commented:
“This is a fantastic achievement for us and I would like to personally thank each and every one of our team members for their contribution in making Daybreak Dungarvan ‘Store of the Year’. This award win will no doubt assist in fuelling our passion to provide the very best possible offering to our current and future customer base”.
