Symbol group Nearby celebrates first anniversary

Nearby, the retail brand launched by S&W Wholesale, has celebrated its first anniversary last month, with celebrations taking place in each of the over 75 stores across the island of Ireland that now adorns the fascia.

The Newry, Northern Ireland-based wholesaler launched Nearby in April 2021, rebranding their offering and promised ‘A Whole Lot More’ for their symbol customers, as part of a wider modernization strategy of the business.

“Since the opening of that very first store back in April last year, we’ve been working to create a high-quality service for both Nearby retailers and their customers in-store. The new Nearby stores have been very well received in their local communities with retailers noticing an increased level of footfall in their stores as a direct result of the conversion to Nearby,” commented Maurice Little, sales manager at S&W Wholesale.

The wholesaler noted that the brand has grown from strength to strength dspite the extensive challenges faced during the pandemic, adding that they are all set to open even more new stores before year end.

Each Nearby store celebrated the brand’s first birthday over the 8-10 April weekend with cracking birthday deals on grocery essentials, balloons, giveaways and local fundraising from each store.

The key store for the event was based in Portadown Co. Armagh with a long standing retailer who has been serving the local community for over 40 years. The Judge family have been providing the same great service for generations with customers known to all the staff on a first name basis. The store has a wide range of freshly baked goods, Cuppa Coffee, Mullin’s Ice Cream, Paypoint, ATM, solid fuels and gas including a vast array of fresh local produce and horticulture to meet customer demand.

The event was supported on the run up and on the day by local radio station QRadio with their QCrew working alongside the Nearby team in handing out Nearby hessian bags packed full of goodies. There was also live music and shout outs from the QRadio car throughout the event creating a party atmosphere for parents and kids joining the team at store.

The event also had free Mullins Ice Cream, local samples to taste, free kids sports bags, balloons and the chance to win some fantastic prizes including in store vouchers, an overnight stay in the luxurious Galgorm Resort and a chance to find our exclusive red Nearby present boxes hidden in store.

“It’s a fantastic accolade to be able to stand with the Judge family in their Nearby store to celebrate the symbol brand being one year since launching into the convenience market. The dedication and commitment to the local community by the retailer underpins exactly what Nearby stands for,” Daniel Comiskey, brand marketing lead, commented.

“We started this journey during the pandemic and to have reached this milestone with the amount of stores is a true reflection of the hard work and passion from all the retailers thus far and those working behind the scenes at S&W Wholesale. We are very much looking forward to reaching further milestones with the brand this year.”