Lenard’s is constantly looking for a point of difference and a way to capture even more of the growing population of chicken consumers. While the company’s brand values of freshness, quality, innovation, expertise, service and competitiveness have given Lenard’s a competitive edge; the team recognised that it would take more than this to move the company to the next level of retail success.

In 2000, Fred Harrison, Ritchies IGA CEO and Lenard Poulter, Lenard’s Founder made the decision that Lenard’s and IGA would join forces, bringing Lenard’s stores into IGA shopping centres.

The partnership created many benefits for Lenard’s as the company was able to capitalise on existing supermarket shoppers, differentiate from competitors and make what is a ‘convenience’ purchase, even more convenient for consumers. For Lenard’s, the concept was about opening up new opportunities for the company and its customers, and laying the foundation for outstanding future growth.

Supermarkets also benefited greatly from the partnership as Lenard’s provided independent supermarket operators with a unique point of difference in the competitive supermarket industry. Further, the awareness and strength of the Lenard’s brand attracted new shoppers to supermarkets who could potentially be converted into loyal customers across all areas of the supermarket.

In February 2001, Lenard’s opened its first Lenard’s store within a supermarket in a Ritchies Super IGA store at Dromana in Victoria when Ritchies upgraded to its current location. Following the success of the first store, Lenard’s opened a second store-in-store franchise in late 2001 at Tower Hill and a third at Wantirna in May 2002.

Within the first two years, Ritchies had opened eight Lenard’s stores within its supermarkets, and as expected, the concept was proving to be the key to achieving substantial growth of the Lenard’s system. In 2004 the first Cornett’s IGA store was opened in Gympie, followed by Toowoomba shortly after.

In 2006 Cornett’s Supa IGA North Bundaberg opened and has been branded by Cornetts management the biggest independent store opening in Queensland’s history. The recently opened Rochedale store within a Drake’s IGA Supermarket was a conversion of a Prize Poultry store and within four months the store has increased turnover from approximately $3000 in sales per week to an outstanding $13,000.

In addition to the full store-in-store concept, in May 2007 Ritchies and Lenard’s launched a satellite store concept at Maffra in South Gippsland Victoria. The Maffra store offers a tray packed range of products supplied from the Sale store in the same area. The short history suggests this will provide another avenue for expansion for both Ritchies and Lenard’s in the future.

The outstanding success of the concept has now seen Lenard’s open a total of 18 supermarket-based stores within Ritchies in Victoria and regional New South Wales, Cornett’s in South East Queensland, and Drakes Foodland in South Australia. With a further eight stores planned for the coming year, it’s obvious that Australian supermarkets are recognising the benefits of incorporating a Lenard’s store into their retailing outlet.

Lenard’s recognises Supa IGA stores as an opportunity to create an unbeatable partnership supported by mutual business objectives and complimentary brand personalities.