Aoife Lawless

Pettitt's SuperValu

The Pettitt family has a long history of retailing in Wexford. In 1946 Cormac Pettitt's Grandfather, Jack Pettitt, who was then working with the L&N., took over the Beechville Dairy in Wexford's main street, one of the premises formerly owned by his grandfather. From here he ran a counter service store until 1965 when he purchased the premises next door, merged them together and pioneered the first self-service operation in Wexford. In 1974, Jack Pettitt went on the expansion trail when he acquired his third main street premises, increased the total size to 2,300sq.ft. In 1975, a new acquisition was added in the form of a 4,000 sq.ft. supermarket in St. Aidan's Shopping Centre , Wexford. Cormac Pettitt's Father - Des Pettitt became responsible for the general management of this store and it has been extended twice bringing its total size to 17,000 sq.ft. In 1978, another store was purchased in Enniscorthy and in 1983 a new supermarket was opened in Gorey. Both have been extended since. The Pettitt family bought its first store outside of County Wexford in 1987 in Athy, Co. Kildare and then again in Arklow, Co. Wicklow in 1989. In January 2006, Pettitt's joined SuperValu, the franchise group operated by Musgrave's, the largest grocery distributor in Ireland. The strong Irish brand compliments what Pettitt's is known for: superior customer service and quality fresh produce. In November 2008, Pettitt's took over SuperValu Key West, just a stone's throw from where Jackie Pettitt opened the first store. Pettitt's Supermarkets have a strong reputation for being customer and community focused. A huge amount of time and effort is put in working with local suppliers to offer customers high quality, local produce at good value.