Chemist Warehouse to open fourth Irish outlet in Meath

Discount pharmacy, Chemist Warehouse, is set to open its fourth outlet in Ireland in Ashbourne, Co Meath, with the Australian chain currently readying the fit-out of the new store at Ashbourne Retail Park.

The pharmacy, which says it offers big brands at discounted prices, is set to employ more than 250 people in Ireland, with plans to open about 11 stores around the State. To date, the chain has stores in Blanchardstown, west Dublin; Henry Street, in the city centre where it took over the former Hickey’s store; and Dún Laoghaire, in south Dublin.

Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on shopping outlets around the State, retail parks have continued to perform strongly, as evidenced by the recent sale of a collection of the Park Collection to the Marlet Property Group for about €78 million. The fact that stores in such parks tend to be located beside each other with entrances outside, rather than in an indoor shopping centre may be a factor in this, as consumers remain cognisant of public health recommendations.

At Ashbourne Retail Park, located only a 10-minute drive north of the M50/Finglas interchange, trade remains strong with just two units remaining to be let.

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Irish homeware store Choice and Danish furniture retailer Jysk recently opened new stores at the park, joining a tenant line up that includes Argos, Equipet, Mr Price, Go Gym, RocDoc and Vue Cinema.

In addition to Chemist Warehouse, UK tools provider Screwfix is currently fitting out its new store, while Leisure Dome, a new entrant in family entertainment centres, will open their doors in the coming weeks in the former Fun Galaxy unit.

Further deals

According to the letting agents, Iveagh Consultants and Wilson Wright, two further deals are currently reserved and at legal stage. Moreover, work is well underway on the construction of a new Burger King drive-thru restaurant and a coffee pod, both to be operated by Applegreen. Camile Thai is also set to open in the former Lily's diner unit.

Paul McCoy, of Iveagh Consultants, said there has been a high level of enquiries for the scheme in the past 12-18 months, with in excess of 10,200sq m of retail space let.

According to Mr McCoy, this is down to a number of reasons, including a limited supply of large retail boxes and the fact that there have been no new retail park schemes completed in Ireland since the financial crash and global recession more than 10 years ago.

In addition to Ashbourne’s growing population and proximity to Dublin, he also cites the fact that property overheads at the centre are at least 40 per cent lower than those of M50 retail park schemes.