German retailer eyes up Cootehill site
Aldi has witnessed a surge in sales and customer footfall in the last 12 months, with sales growing by 15.2%.
German discount retailer Aldi is said to be close to securing an agreement with a view to establishing a new store in the town of Cootehill.
The new store will be located just off the town’s main Market Street, on a partial greenfield site located to the rear of St Michael’s Church and accessible off Station Road. The agreement has progressed to the point that contracts have been signed with local landowners, the Celt has learned.
The next step will be for the retailer to make a formal application for planning to Cavan County Council.
The viability of opening a new store in Cootehill is boosted by the wealth of industrial employment in the locality. More than 4,000 people travel to Cootehill on a daily basis for employment, and this is expected to increase further in the coming years with the construction of a new technology and industrial park worth almost €1 million. The industrial park project has the potential of hosting the creation of several hundred more jobs locally, and there is already strong interest from several companies looking to invest at the site.
Jobs
Aldi, which already has a store located on the Dublin Road in Cavan Town, announced plans earlier this year that it intends to recruit more than 1,000 new staff in 2021. As part of that, Aldi announced it is seeking to recruit 49 new employees for its stores in Cavan and Monaghan. Opportunities available include 25 permanent positions.
It is unclear whether this includes staff for Cootehill, but the ongoing growth and expansion of the Aldi brand in Ireland has already seen an announcement that it is finalising plans for a new supermarket in Monaghan Town. Planning permission for the project was granted 2019. In 2014 Aldi opened its first Co Monaghan store, located in Carrickmacross, creating 20 new jobs.
It also immediately began stocking produce from several local food suppliers on its shelves, including Castleblayney’s IGWT Poultry Service and Annalitten Foods and Greenfield Foods, as well as the former Town of Monaghan Co-Op, now Lakeland Dairies.
Aldi has witnessed a surge in sales and customer footfall in the last 12 months, with sales growing by 15.2%.
It is also Ireland’s leading supermarket in terms of pay with Store Assistants able to earn up to €14.10 per hour after becoming the first supermarket to introduce the Living Wage Technical Group’s recommended ‘living wage’ rate of €12.30 as a minimum entry level of pay.
Aldi has been contacted for comment in relation the proposed new store for Cootehill town.