BERLIN, GERMANY–Maxol Ballycoolin in Dublin, Ireland, has won the coveted NACS European Convenience Retailer of the Year Award. The award, sponsored by Dover Fueling Solutions, was presented during the NACS Convenience Summit Europe in Berlin.
The judges agreed that Maxol is future-proofing its business by focusing on customer needs and delivering a food-focused experience for its customers.
In 2021, Maxol announced a €7 million investment programme that included €1 million to refurbish its Ballycoolin location. The company upgraded the first-floor area by adding customer seating for 24, bringing the overall seating capacity to 99. The outside has also been transformed with the addition of 20 car parking spaces with Ballycoolin now facilitating more than 50 cars as well as an outside seating area with additional benches, screens, lighting and umbrellas and a rebrand of the car wash facility. On the forecourt, two additional premium fuel pumps now offer Maxol Premium Fuel, which supports the company’s Carbon Neutral Programme by offsetting 100% of the customer’s emissions through investments in certified carbon offset projects.
When the Ballycoolin site first opened in 2017, the food hall rotated five foodservice concepts every three months. As part of its €1 million investment programme, Maxol has redefined the offer by adding permanent foodservice concepts including a Burger King with a drive-thru, a new and larger Maxol Deli. There is also barista style coffee from Insomnia and a bean to cup coffee offering from ROSA Coffee, Maxol’s own brand coffee.
For more than 100 years, Maxol has been at the heart of the community. As a fourth-generation, Irish family-owned business, Maxol is a market leader in the forecourt retail convenience, fuel card and lubricant sectors. The company has won previous NACS awards, including the 2021 NACS European Convenience Retailer Best of the Best Store Award for the redevelopment of its store in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland.
“After a century of being a retail leader, Maxol continues to prove that our global industry is constantly looking how it can stay ahead of the curve and deliver retail excitement to customers. This award is well deserved, and I would like to congratulate CEO Brian Donaldson and his team for being named the 2022 Convenience Retailer of the Year,” said NACS President and CEO Henry O. Armour.
The NACS Convenience Summit Europe took place 31 May–02 June in Berlin, Germany. The global event is hosted each year in a different European city and is hosted by U.S.-based NACS. Visit convenience.org/CSE for more information.