Feargal Quinn
1936 Born
1960 Opens first shop in Dundalk, County Louth, with eight colleagues
1965 Opens first shop in Dublin. Over the next 20 years, concentrates on becoming a major player in the Dublin area, building a chain of 20 shops with a staff of over 5,000
1979 Appointed by government to be chairman of what later became An Post. Spent 10 years helping to modernise the service and launch the National Lottery
1993 Elected to Seanad (Irish senate) as an independent member in the National University of Ireland constituency
2005 January Accepts a bid from Select Retail Services for Superquinn
2005 August Bid goes through
Lifestyle Married to Denise, with five children
“I am, first and last, a grocer.”
This simple statement from Irish senator Feargal Quinn in answer to a question about selling his 20 Superquinn supermarket outlets is something of an understatement. Not only is he one of Ireland’s most famous businessmen, Senator Quinn is also one of its richest.
The sale, in August, to Select Retail Holdings group, of the chain he set up in 1960 has netted Quinn and his family an estimated ¤450m – a lot of money for a grocer. But, true to a grocer’s nature, Quinn is a man who has built an international reputation for being in touch with the people. He is credited with many innovative customer service ideas in his stores, and introducing Ireland’s first loyalty card, all of which have earned him the title of “king of retail”.
Quinn also has a good eye for property, buying mostly at the bottom end of the market before redeveloping the sites with stores, car parks and offices.
So, as a successful property developer, why is he selling up – something he strenuously denied he would do only last August – when he has done so well in the market?
Outbid over potential sites
Quinn explains that market forces were behind the decision to sell – the company was constantly being outbid by larger groups on sites it wanted to acquire.
“Property was certainly relevant to [our decision to bring in other investors], since one of the driving forces was our inability to acquire a flow of new sites within the scope of our own resources,” he says.
The sale, and Quinn’s experience of 45 years in Ireland’s retail business, will be of interest to the 2,000 delegates at the annual British Council of Shopping Centres conference, where Quinn will be speaking.
The event will be held in Belfast for the first time at the end of the month.
Although Quinn admits his impressions of the Northern Ireland marketplace are “second-hand, as Superquinn has never operated there”, he still has strong ideas about what is needed to help bring more development and investors into the province.
“What the North needs most of all is a normal society, in which its economy can develop in the natural way. For the past 35 years, the economy has been driven by security issues,” he says.
Trade between neighbours
Welcoming the IRA’s July statement to end its armed struggle, Quinn says that, if the IRA lives up to its promise, “it could make a big difference in helping along the normalisation process. We will have to wait to see if it does that.”
Whether or not the IRA keeps its promise remains to be seen. But Quinn believes both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic should continue to forge trade links.
“The most important thing is that we are two small communities, living side by side on an island. As neighbours, we are natural trading partners, but the full potential from that relationship has been inhibited by the political differences.
“Both sides have a lot to gain by working more closely together, and I am sure that, over time as the wounds heal, we will see more activity in that direction. But, like all things to do with the North, time is what is needed to sort things out. There are no quick solutions.”
Quinn is a man who has tried to find solutions for Ireland’s retail sector throughout his career. Since he was a schoolboy dreaming of Elizabeth Taylor, who he fell in love with when she appeared in the film National Velvet, he has always wanted to be his own boss.
His first business experience was working in his father’s holiday camp at Red Island in Skerries, County Dublin. But, he says: “What really excited me by the time I left college was the supermarket way of selling food, which was just beginning to sweep Europe.”
So, in 1960, he set up a small shop in Dundalk with eight colleagues. His philosophy was fresh food prepared in-store, and good customer service. Having succeeded in both, Quinn turned to politics, particularly the Seanad, the Irish senate.
His first attempt to get elected was 1973. He finally succeeded in 1993 and has been a member ever since, while heading and expanding Superquinn.
In 1979, he became the chairman of what later became An Post. Ten years later, he helped modernise that service and launched the National Lottery.
Given this level of experience, Quinn has some strong words for the Republic of Ireland as it stands now. When asked what needs to be improved upon in the Republic’s economy to keep the Celtic Tiger alive, he states that the Irish need to realise that what worked for the country in the past decade will not work for it in the next one.
“The world has moved on and we must move with it,” he says. Pointing to the competition for cheaper labour and goods coming from Eastern European countries and Asia, he says Ireland has to respond by moving the economy up the value chain.
“How exactly we carve a niche for ourselves in the new world is a more difficult question to answer. But the most important first thing is to acknowledge that there is an issue and resolve to address it. If we don’t, our prosperity will melt away,” he says.
The removal of stamp duty
Removing stamp duty from the sale of commercial property would be a start, he believes. The government imposed a 9% duty on sales two years ago. This was a hike from 6%, and it had agents worrying about how it would affect the market.
“Anything that inhibits the liquidity of assets is a bad thing, from a business point of view,” says Quinn. But he adds: “Unfortunately, stamp duty has now become such a major part of the state’s income that I can’t see the government losing its grip on it in the foreseeable future.”
As for his own view of Ireland’s retail market, Quinn will not be loosening his grip on Superquinn completely. The family will still have a 5% stake in the business, and this is enough for Quinn to think about the innovative side of the market, such as self-scanning and internet shopping, which he says is working.
For the immediate future, Quinn is content to dabble in the investment market following the sale of Superquinn.
“I am in the process of turning myself, not from a property developer or a person running a business, but into a person who will have certain resources to invest. Those investments will be made carefully, after taking the best advice. It’s too early to give details, or even to say whether they will include property at all.”
