BRITAIN'S biggest electrical retailer, Dixons, has completed the first phase of a three year £10 million investment in the Republic, with a new shop at Dublin's Jervis Centre.
Opening its doors for business yesterday, its chief executive, Mr John Clare, said the group is planning to open two more stores next year and will gradually expand throughout the Republic as appropriate" sites become available.
The group is believed to have looked at a number of possible locations in the greater Dublin area with a view to opening two more shops. In the longer term, Dixons is understood to be interested in expanding into Galway and Cork.
The group has invested £1.4 million in the new Jervis Centre shop and has said that up to 70 new jobs will be created for people in management, administration and sales.
As the ongoing expansion continues in Ireland, Mr Clare said he expects Dixons will create an additional 300 jobs by the end of 1998.
Dixons joins a number of other British retailing chains at the Jervis Centre, trading alongside Debenhams, Boots, Argos and Marksand Spencer.
The group also operate three other separate brands, Currys, PC World and The Link and has indicated that it will look at introducing some of these outlets to the Republic.
The group's retail stores mainly trade under the Dixons name and currently there are 349 shops in the UK.
Its out of town superstores, together with some other retail shops, are run under the Currys banner. Currys operates more than 200 superstores in the UK and has an additional 164 outlets in prime locations.
PC World specialises in computer equipment, while The Link chain offers services and products for mobile phones, pages and faxes. These chains have also grown substantially.
Dixons has been operating in Northern Ireland for many years. At the moment the group has four Dixons stores, five Currys stores and one PC World in the North.
The group is also involved in property development throughout Europe.
Last year Dixons reported sales of almost £1.7 billion.