*John & Cathy Coughlan of Coughlan’s Centra in Gort
COUGHLAN’S Centra has been supporting Gort and its surrounding communities for 21 years.
A family-run business, John and Cathy Coughlan opened the doors of the busy supermarket on November 15, 2002, on George’s Street in Gort.
At the core of the Gort community, Coughlan’s Centra is a valuable supporter of local underage camogie sides. Coughlan’s is also a family operation with John and Cathy Coughlan proudly employing 30 people from the local area, including their three children who have grown alongside the business.
John Coughlan acknowledges the importance of their customer base and he tells The Clare Echo, “It’s important to give back to the community.”
Coughlan’s Centra has survived and thrived through turbulent times, from the recession to the opening of the motorway, to most recently the global pandemic. John and Cathy’s resilience throughout this time is marked by their refusal to stand still, constantly progressing their business and modernising Coughlan’s Centra.
Coughlan’s have invested heavily in recent years to create a state-of-the art facility which included installing 160 solar panels on the building, introducing an electric delivery vehicle, replacing all their lighting needs with LED lights, and installing modern closed-door fridges and new ovens.
“There’s lots of things happening here,” admits John. “Every piece of equipment has been replaced over the last three to four years, so we’ve done a lot of sustainability work in the business. It’s something I’m very passionate about and thankfully it’s significantly reduced our energy costs while also reducing our carbon footprint.”
High standards exist across the board and that was reflected this week at the Musgrave’s Annual Awards which took place last night at The Mansion House in Dublin, where Coughlan’s Centra was in the running for two awards.
Manager at Coughlan’s Centra, Flavia Souto has been with the business for 15 years and her standards of excellence have been recognised this week where she was shortlisted for Musgraves Store Manager of the Year. John says, “Flavia has been the cornerstone of our operations for 15 years now, and we are so proud of her as such a nomination is a significant professional milestone, particularly given the extensive number of stores and managers across the country. It speaks volumes about her exemplary service and the positive impact she has had on our business since joining us all those years ago.”
In addition to this, John notes that they are “thrilled” that Coughlan’s Mood Ice-Cream stand has been nominated amongst the Top 6 in the country, saying that this is a reflection of their excellent and loyal staff-base.
John explains that Coughlan’s Centra always strive to keep up-to-date with the latest food trends, noting that they carry more healthy offerings now as “people are very health conscious now and into their health and wellbeing”. He also stresses that convenience is a very integral part of their business model, “We don’t like queues. We have a bit of a motto, more than two is a queue!”
John, a Manchester native whose family is originally from Tuam, previously ran Centra on Main Street in Lahinch before Musgrave’s invited him to open the shop in Gort. John is passionate about the development of Gort as a vibrant town, and he notes the importance of their customer-base and the community in making their business a success.
“We went through a few scary moments with the recession and pandemic,” John admits. “The pandemic was tough even though business was strong because everybody stayed local but it was hard work because you were trying to make sure everyone was okay, and look after people and look after ourselves as well. We were doing deliveries – we do deliveries anyway because we deliver to the factories in the area – but then we had a few older customers, obviously it was a lifesaver for them.”
He continues, “Gort has a big hinterland around it, Kilbeacanty, Lough Cutra, Tubber, we receive a lot of support from out the Loughrea Road and the old Ennis Road, which we are very grateful for. From farmers to self-employed people, we also have a strong young customer base including young housewives, and young people commuting into Galway who stop in the morning for a coffee and their sandwich for the day.”
Visit Coughlan’s Centra on George’s Street in Gort or phone (091) 630 972.
