Mayo stores bring home gold from Gala B.E.S.T Awards
THREE Gala convenience stores from Mayo have been awarded the ‘Gold Standard’ for excellence in retail at the 2017 Gala Annual Conference and B.E.S.T Awards, which took place at The Malton Hotel, Killarney, Co. Kerry.
The ‘Gold Standard’ is awarded following a comprehensive and independent assessment process under the Gala Business Excellence Standards Tool programme. The awards ceremony was MC’d by TV personality and ‘mentalist’, David Meade.
The local stores that received the gold award at the Gala B.E.S.T Awards were Gala, Louisburgh; Coyle’s Gala, Belmullet and McGloin’s Gala in Foxford, which was also awarded the Chilled Retailer Award at the event.
Speaking at the conference, Gala CEO, Gary Desmond, said: “We offer our congratulations to all of the Mayo stores. These stores provide a fantastic service to their customers, day in, day out and are amongst the B.E.S.T retailers in the Gala Group. We wish all our gold winners from Mayo another successful year and look forward to the stores retaining their gold standard at next year’s conference, which will mark the Gala Group’s 20th year in business.’’
The Gala annual conference brings together all of the retailers in the Gala Group for an inspirational day of motivational speeches, a trade fair and an update on the Gala business and new initiatives. The Gala Retail conference was opened by a panel of Irish sporting greats, including Tracey Piggott; former Munster player, Frankie Sheehan and journalist, Billy Keane.
During the conference, Gala’s CEO, Gary Desmond, announced that the Group will mark its milestone 20th year in business with its biggest-ever investment in marketing – a €1 million commitment to marketing in 2018 as the Group continues to invest in the brand and reward customers for choosing Gala over the past 20 years.
The investment will centre around a major consumer promotion, Gala Gifts, in which customers of the Group will be in with a chance of winning over 120,000 prizes. In addition, 2018 will see a continuation of Gala’s commitment to Special Olympics Ireland, becoming a platinum sponsor of Special Olympics’ Ireland Games, and there’s many exciting initiatives planned for online rewards and in-store promotions for customers.
As one of the most progressive convenience groups in Ireland, Gala stores benefit from national expertise, coupled with local wholesaler support and a store model, which ensures that every Gala store is designed to deliver to its local community’s requirements.
Gala was established in 1998 and is a wholly Irish-owned convenience Group. There are almost 200 stores in the Gala Group, including Gala and Gala express stores, and over 2,500 people are employed by Gala stores, wholesalers and at the company’s head office. Gala stores are locally-owned and are renowned for their commitment to the local communities in which they operate.