PICTURES | Keane's SuperValu Lanesboro celebrates thirty years in business

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With 12,000 sqft of floor space and an enormous variety of products, Keane’s SuperValu in Lanesboro continues to thrive. In fact, February 7 will mark an incredible 30 years in business. When Bernard Keane first purchased the business from local man Peter Donlon, it was a Spar shop, or, as it was known back then, a 'Spar 8 Till Late'. READ MORE BELOW PHOTO

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Speaking to the Longford Leader, Bernard Keane recalls that moment over 30 years ago when he first heard about the business being up for sale.

“I was reading the paper one day and saw the shop was for sale so I got into my car and drove down to see it. I had a look at it and thought, okay, this looks like it has a bit of potential! I bought the shop in 1996. It was a small barn style building at the time, so I knocked it, and made it a 3,000 sq ft shop, a Spar.”

An enterprising businessman, Bernard also set about buying the neighbouring building which had previously been home to McNally Motors.

Once that purchase was complete, the bulldozer returned to knock the former showroom so it could be rebuilt as part of the existing shop complete with a car park to the side.

Once that was underway, Bernard turned his attention to the building on the other side of the shop.

“In 2006, I was doing a bigger job,” he explained. “I knocked the whole lot again and rebuilt it. I acquired the building next to it as well, an old bakery, Midlands Bakery,” Bernard adds pointing to a beautiful farmed picture that was taken at the time.

Upon taking ownership of the neighbouring house, which had previously belonged to local GP Dr Condon, Bernard elected to keep it in its original state, opting instead to carry over the beautiful stonework aesthetic onto the exterior of the supermarket.

In 2008, his business joined the SuperValu family, with whom he has remained ever since, going from strength to strength with each passing year.

Bernard, who also owns and runs a Centra shop in Athleague with his wife Mags, comes from an entrepreneurial family.

“My grandfather returned from England in 1909 and bought a pub/shop in Athleague. That was the start of Keanes of Athleague.

My father and my uncle then decided to separate the two businesses, and they bought a business next door as well. My father took over the shop next door, which was a general merchants.

It had a grocery to the front, and then it had hardware, wheelbarrows, gates, and coffins! It did everything! I remember we used to play in the coffins when we were kids; climbing into them and hiding in them!”

“I started to take over the running of the business when I came back from college in 1979. My father had passed away in 1974 so my mother was looking after it in the interim. Then in 1996, I came down to Lanesboro and purchased the Spar shop.”

With technology having evolved so much in the last 30 years, Bernard has seen every change imaginable.

Recalling the most significant modification of all, he adds, “Scanning was a big change. Electronic labels took an awful lot of labour out of it because before that, every single thing had to be priced individually with the price gun.

“When you’d get a case of product, like, tins of peas, you’d open it up, get out the pricing gun, set the price, and then start pricing every single can.

“Every item in the shop had to be priced individually. So the scanning system was probably the biggest change.”

The 30th anniversary of Keane’s SuperValu will take place on Saturday February 7, at 1pm. It promises to be an event full of entertainment and celebration suitable for all ages.

Guests can expect delicious food, cheese and wine for the adults, as well as face painting, balloons, and the attendance of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse for the enjoyment of the little ones. There will also be raffles, spin-the-wheel giveaways, as well as a big draw.

Entry forms for the big draw will be available at Keane’s SuperValu from Tuesday,February 3 while the draw itself will take place during the anniversary event at 3pm on Saturday, February 7.

First prize is a €500 voucher for Original Irish Hotels, with a €300 voucher as second prize. There will also be two €100 vouchers for Italian restaurant Sorrento as well as SuperValu hampers, and lots of other prizes including boxes of chocolates, SuperValu footballs, bags of sweets and so much more. So every time you head into Keane’s SuperValu in Lanesboro, be sure to pick up an entry form so you can be in with a chance of winning some incredible prizes.

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