The continuing competition between Tesco and Dunnes Stores for trading pitches in the greater Dublin area has moved to another location with the decision by the UK multiple to open a supermarket in Ashbourne, Co Meath.
The announcement comes eight months after Dunnes Stores paid top dollar for a range of old corn stores which are to be demolished to make way for a supermarket.
Although located in Meath, Ashbourne is now a dormitory town for Dublin commuters and is set to grow rapidly over the next decade.
The arrival of the two supermarket giants and the proposal to provide a range of other shops in a new town centre will transform Ashbourne into an important regional retail centre catering for shoppers from large sections of Meath, Louth and Dublin. Its location along the busy Dublin-Derry road will attract customers from even further afield.
The Tesco supermarket will be the centre-piece of Ashbourne's new town centre, which will be located along a new high street and will have about 12 other units, most of them with between 2,000 and 5,000 sq ft of floor space.
Neus Investments plans to spend £125 million (€158.7m) on the next phase of the centre. On the first floor, it will have leisure facilities; the scheme will also include a new library and civic offices for Meath County Council. The development will face on to a new civic square on the western side of the present main street. The facilities will be enhanced by the creation of a public park along the Broadmeadow River, which bounds the site.
The Tesco Store, which will open for business in autumn 2002, will be served by surface and underground car-parks. Travelators will link the supermarket to the underground park. John Sullivan of Tesco said it is anxious to play its part in the development of Ashbourne, which has the potential to become a major retailing centre in the years ahead.
Tesco will be investing £8.5 million (€10.8m) in the store which will employ over 100 people.
Dunnes Stores has yet to lodge a planning application to develop a supermarket on the site of the old Dardis & Dunns grain stores which were bought for over £4.5 million (€5.7m). Dunnes will be located directly opposite a shopping centre which was built almost 15 years ago, but is still not pulling in the crowds. The anchor is Super Valu.
Ashbourne has been earmarked as a "major development centre" in Meath Co Council's development plan. The population has risen from 5,000 in 1996 to 8,000 in the current year and is set to grow rapidly over the next few years. The planners have rezoned another 160 acres for housing while the 50-acre industrial estate on the northern end of the town has been enlarged by another 40 acres to help create jobs locally. The estate will be close to an interchange on a proposed bypass for the town, work on which is expected to start in 2002.
