Penneys opens new Dundrum store following €16m investment

Penneys has moved to a larger location within the centre, occupying the second and third floors of the former House of Fraser site.

The new store spans 60,000 sq ft, a 64pc increase compared to its previous Dundrum store.

The move to a larger space has created 130 new jobs, with the total number of people employed by the retailer in Dundrum rising to 360.

The new roles have all been filled, the retailer confirmed today, while all employees from the existing store have moved to the new store.

As well as clothing and fashion ranges, the store also features an in-store beauty salon and WornWell, a vintage clothing concession curated by the Vintage Wholesale Company.

"[The concession] is another service, it’s another reason for people to get up out of bed in the morning and come and shop,” Penneys’ head of Ireland and Northern Ireland Damien O’Neill told the Irish Independent.

“There are pressures from online competition. We’re all about the in-store experience by adding different concepts into our stores.”

Penneys has also invested in self-checkout tills in-store, alongside traditional service tills, on both floors of the shop.

Penneys currently has 37 stores in Ireland. The move to a larger Dundrum store forms part of the retailer’s commitment to invest €250m in Ireland over the next 10 years.

Mr O’Neill said the recent spell of fine weather has boosted sales across the island of Ireland.

"I think all of the Irish retailers have had a very fortunate and very good time over the last four weeks, for sure,” he said.

“Good weather brings out our customers, trade has been good, we’re happy.”

Swimwear and luggage sales have been particularly strong, a trend the retailer noted earlier in the year. Health and beauty products have also been in demand.

Some input prices for the business remain high, Mr O’Neill reported.

“We’re certainly seeing a decline in the shipping costs. Electricity hasn’t changed. The cost of running our stores hasn’t changed,” he said.

"Raw materials have not gone down that much yet. There’s probably a lead time for that for the fabrics we are using within our products so hopefully we will see that in the future.”

The retailer, which is known as Primark outside of Ireland, has opened three other new stores in Europe and the US so far this week.

This includes its first Lanzarote location, as well as shops in Long Island, New York and Bucharest, Romania.

It will also open an extended store in Liverpool tomorrow.

The retailer’s €75m Irish distribution facility in Newbridge in Kildare is set to commence operations next spring.

This warehouse will service Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Penneys does not sell online but launched a new website here at the beginning of the year to allow customers to check stock levels before heading in-store.

"We are seeing an increased number of visits year-on-year and week-on-week,” Mr O’Neill said. “Our customers are loving the fact that they can see the product, check the sizes available in-store and then come in and get it.”