Garveys move on forecourts

One More Thing:It seems Tesco is not the only grocery chain looking to build a chain of petrol stations here.

In Kerry, the family-owned Garvey Group, headed by Thomás Garvey and his son Jim, is quietly building a network of stations in south Munster.

The group, which operates 10 convenience stores as part of the Musgrave family and owns two hotels in Dingle, opened its third service station in Dungarvan, Co Waterford last year and is now believed to be on the verge of buying out an existing operator in Cobh, Co Cork.

The station is beside a supermarket and nine acres of land that Garvey paid €16 million to buy in February.

It plans to completely redevelop the site, adding a lot more retail space.

This is part of a €20 million plan to expand the group's retailing activities over the next few years. Garvey now employs 1,000 staff and has annual revenues of more than €100 million.

A shift towards offering freshly baked and cooked goods in-store over the past couple of years has helped it post strong, double-digit sales growth.

Its petrol division operates as Garvey Fuel, with a Centra store on every forecourt.

The company is thought to be eyeing up other potential sites in Munster.

The group sources its fuel from Conoco Philips refinery at Whitegate, which is up for sale.

Petrol retailing is a notoriously cut-throat business with wafter-thin margins.

With petrol stations disappearing at a rate of knots across the country, the Garveys are taking a bet that strategically-located forecourts offering cut-price fuel subsidised by higher-margin convenience store retailing can earn them a tidy profit.