Lauren Victory and Chloe McEntee from Victory’s Centra in Kingscourt. Lauren says “it’s great to see the town thriving again”.PHOTOS: ALEX COLEMAN

Summer sorted at Centra

By Gemma Good

Ice-cream is on the menu this summer with the introduction of 'Moo’d' ice-cream to Victory’s Centra in Kingscourt.

Fire up the barbecue with sizzling offers on a huge selection of BBQ meats to make you the top chef at the garden party. Kevin Victory is delighted to report that he is “trading very well” and revealed that the shop is currently going through “a bit of a revamp".

“We’re doing a little bit of a change around the shop just to freshen it up,” he said, adding it has been three years since it was last done.

Despite the renovations, the shop is still very much open for business with fresh food at the deli counter, a tea and coffee machine for all your caffeine fix, household goods, cards, giftware, confectionery... everything you need!

Home cooked

“We bake our own scones, we bake our breads, we make salads from scratch,” Kevin said. There is a new machine on order to have their chicken fillets cooked to perfection for that famous chicken fillet roll.

“We’ll keep ploughing ahead!” he said, as customers munched their lunch at the socially distanced tables outside the shop front.

Parking constraints

“The biggest thing now in the town is to try and put in some outdoor dining... In Kingscourt you could do with a bit more parking which would help the situation of getting people into the town.”

Kevin said the only facility the town lacks is a central carpark. “Our biggest problem would be parking... There's no town carpark,” he explained. Employees working in the town are required to park along the street.

“That's not good because, when customers come, there’s not as many spaces.

“It is a deterrent... It's impossible to get parking,” he said.

“You want to make things as easy for people as possible,” Kevin explains, and a proper carparking facility would allow people to stop in the town and shop everywhere rather than “moving from car space to car space".

He said this would increase footfall into the town and allow people to shop at ease.

Kevin never once had to close his doors throughout the lockdown, something for which he is most grateful.

“The staff were terrific,” he said, praising both staff and customers who adhered to restrictions that allowed him to run his business safely.

“It was very rewarding to be able to provide that service all through the pandemic,” he said. Kevin wishes to thank his customers for their continued support and wished all business the best of luck in their re-opening.