Colm and Oonagh McGinley, who run McGinley’s SPAR, Derry are celebrating being part of the SPAR family for 20 years.

The pair began as licensees for Burmah Fuel, purchasing their premises in 1996 and have continued to serve their community with fellow family business, Henderson Group since 2002.

They began their journey with Hendersons as VG, developing the site over the years and changing to a ViVO store, before later becoming a SPAR in 2007. The store has been continually growing, with over £1 million being invested throughout the years.

The biggest development occurred in 2016 when the store was expanded from 1300 sq. ft to the 3500 sq. ft unit that it operates from today. The expansion has allowed the store to provide more quality products and the highest customer service to their local community.

The impressive store offers an extensive range to local shoppers, delivering the highest standards of retail including a substantial fresh offering from a host of local suppliers, two Barista Bar coffee machines, Coke & Fanta ice blast machines and F’real shakes and smoothies, as well as being a Hermes agent and a hub for the family’s own oil business, they are a real stand-out in the local community.

An essential part of McGinley’s SPAR Derry is the food-to-go offering which must be sampled, they offer the highest quality and range of hot food in-store with their Deli, which can be picked up on the go or enjoyed in the store’s relaxing upstairs seating area.

The McGinley’s take great pride in their business, and Colm says their local community is right at the heart of their store; “Running the local SPAR for 20 years creates close relationships with our local shoppers, who we know by name and love to offer a personal experience to everyone that comes through the doors.”

The family are dedicated to maintaining this community feeling for shoppers in their store, with their own family coming through the ranks within the business.

Oonagh McGinley continued, “It is fantastic to reach this milestone of 20 years as a SPAR store, serving the local community, which we love playing such a part in. We have a brilliant team here working with us and that’s something we appreciate a lot as many have been with us on this journey since the beginning.

“We are constantly looking for new ways to improve our business and how we serve the community, and we pride ourselves on doing the best we can for our local customers, we have plans for further exciting redevelopments to make our store even better and we hope these will be completed early 2023, so shoppers can look forward to many more exciting things to come for this store.”