With the 13 October deadline for entries for the Convenience Awards 2027 drawing ever nearer, Convenience Store caught up with previous winner Samuel McCann, owner of Spar Malone Road in Co. Antrim, which took home the award for Large Convenience Store of the Year at the event’s debut appearance in Liverpool earlier this year.
Speaking about his wins (Linzi Moore from Eurospar Cullybackey was also victorious as Sales Colleague of the Year), Samuel opened up on what it meant for him and his team to win, and why other retailers should consider entering.
Fantastic win
“It was fantastic to win at the Convenience Awards earlier this year. Honestly, we were not expecting to win - to be shortlisted was a big achievement for us - so to go on and win was a great feeling. It was a really proud night for us in Malone.”
Samuel added that, aside from winning the award, the entire event was something that proved both enjoyable and educational: “I really enjoyed the awards. The venue, the atmosphere and the pace of the evening was brilliant. It’s great to learn about other retailers and hear their success stories, the challenges they’re facing and to see best practices.
“A lot of hard work gets put in daily to get stores to ‘awards level,’ and the awards night really celebrated that.”
“A lot of hard work gets put in daily to get stores to ‘awards level,’ and the awards night really celebrated that and showed just far the store has progressed.”
Regular customers
In Malone itself, word spread quickly that its Spar was nominated, as Samuel recalled: “Our staff had been telling regular customers about being a finalist in the weeks leading up to the awards, so we had lots of people cheering us on.
“The whole team was absolutely delighted with the win - it was lovely to share the good news with customers. We had photos put on our community screen so shoppers could see we won and there were press releases done for us by Hendersons to promote the win.”
Samuel added that any retailers or stores out there debating whether to enter this year’s event should take the chance while they can: “We’d encourage any retailers with a success story to tell to enter the awards.
“While we aren’t the biggest store out there, the store had improved massively over the past few years, and we thought it was worth entering and telling our story. Winning was a big surprise when we were up against so many other retailers at the top of their game.”
In fact, Samuel said his store enjoyed the experience so much that they plan to do it all over again this year. “We’re planning to enter the awards again so we’re working on our entry at the minute. There have been some changes and new additions to the store recently, so we’ve got plenty to write about.”
You can read more on how to make the most of entering the Convenience Awards 2027 here.
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