Discount Poundland stores open today as Dealz

UK DISCOUNT retailer Poundland will open its first two stores in the Republic today at Blanchardstown and in Portlaoise, creating 70 new jobs.

Using the brand name Dealz, the retailer will offer branded and non-branded food, toiletries, stationery and everyday household items at a single price point of €1.49.

Poundland, which is majority owned by private equity group Warburg Pincus, has more than 350 stores in the UK and sells everything for £1. It has about 20 stores in Northern Ireland.

The company will open a 7,000 sq ft store in the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre and a 6,000sq ft shop in Portlaoise.

It has signed deals with local suppliers including Barry’s Tea, Largo Foods (Tayto crisps), Dale Farm, Ballygarvey eggs and Comerford Cakes, Freshways (a chilled foods arm of Kerry Group) and biscuit maker Jacob Fruitfield.

Poundland’s British stores stock a large variety of well-known brands, including Colgate, Heinz, Kellogg’s, Flora, Disney, Coca-Cola, Kit Kat, Kodak, Domestos and Weight Watchers.

Poundland chief executive Jim McCarthy will attend the opening in Blanchardstown along with Leonard Brassel, who has been hired from Irish retailer Heatons to run the retail operation here.

Poundland intends to open an additional four stores in Ireland by the end of next March as part of an initial €2 million investment here.

In August, The Irish Timesrevealed that Poundland was set to enter the Irish market. Mr McCarthy expressed the hope that up to 50 Dealz stores would open here in the coming years.

Founded in 1990, Poundland is the biggest single-price discount retailer in Europe. Latest accounts show that Poundland Ltd made a pre-tax profit of £23.4 million on turnover of £509 million in the year to the end of March 2010.