BRITISH retailer Marks & Spencer is investing £3 million in a major expansion of its Cork store, and wants to build three new shops in Dublin, Galway, and Limerick.
The Cork expansion brings total M&S investment in the Republic over the past three years to £75 million, according to MrGeoff Rowbotham, the general manager of Marks & Spencer Ireland.
Mr Rowbotham said work on the company's new £30 million Grafton Street store was progressing well and the premises, which is housed in the former Brown Thomas building, would open in late September.
The large boardings, which have concealed the landmark building since last autumn, were taken down several days ago and the finishing touches are being put to the shop front and the pavement area, according to Mr Rowbothnm. "Everything is exactly on schedule," he said.
The work on the new store included removing a number of facades on Grafton Street and Duke Street and replacing them with replicas of how the shop fronts looked in the late 19th century. M&S has also found a tenant for the famous Bailey pub in Duke Street and the new premises are being refilled by the McNally Design Group, which owns the Irish Pub Company.
While much focus has been placed on the new Grafton Street store, Marks & Spencer has further expansion plans for the Republic and wants to have a total of seven stores here, according to Mr Rowbothnm.
The company has been looking for suitable sites of up to 40,000 sq ft in both Galway and Limerick, and announced recently, that it is to open an 80,000 sq ft store in the planned Quarrvvale development in west Dublin. M&S was also currently looking for a site for a fourth store in the Dublin area, Mr Rowbotham said.
Marks & Spencer yesterday lodged a planning application to add 13,000 sq ft to its Merchants Quay premises in Cork, in an expansion which will create 30 new jobs. The proposed development, which will be at ground level, comes less than 12 months after M&S spent £2 million to double the size of the food hall at Merchants Quay.
Mr Rowbotham said there had been "such a terrific response" to last year's expansion that the company had "felt it was appropriate to go ahead" and invest an additional £3 million. Following the expansion, the company will have a total retail space of 50,000 sq ft in Cork, making the store as large as its premises in Mary Street, Dublin.
The new development, which is expected to be completed by next April, will result in the reintroduction of a home furnishings department, an expansion of the fashion department and a further expansion of the food hall. A new wine shop will also open this autumn.
M&S is currently expanding its Mary Street store in Dublin to link it to the new Jervis Street shopping centre.
The number of full and part time staff employed by M&S Ireland has expanded by about, 50 per cent to 750 during the past three years. Mr Rowbotham hopes this will grow to more than 1,000 by next year.
