Penneys appear to advertise Cavan managerial position

Retailer scotches rumours of new store, saying post was 'fake'

When Primark appeared to advertise for a new full-time trainee manager position in Cavan Town last week, it set chins wagging immediately over where and when the fast fashion retailer would be setting up shop in the Breffni county.

The posting on social media sought suitably qualified applicants with a "sales and commercial focus", eager to ply their skills at "maximising sales, opportunities and performance".

The professional sounding staff advert listed a requirement that applicants have full knowledge of department sales figures, budgets and SPV (Selling Price Variance), and an ability to "understand the market" by monitoring the local area and competitor activity to maintain competitive advantage.

The list of requirements continued, with the location pin for the store positioned somewhere along the Farnham Road area of Cavan Town.

Interested parties were of course told to 'Apply on Website'.

However, within hours of the posting going live, and shared several hundred times, the application link provided went dead.

As recently as 2018, the urgent need to boost footfall in Cavan Town by attracting a Penneys, or major retailer of its type, was highlighted at a meeting of Cavan County Council. Aontú's Sarah O’Reilly put the item on the agenda when she proposed that the local authority invite Primark bosses to the town and assist them in finding a suitable site.

In addition to providing popular fashion at affordable prices, Cllr O'Reilly believes the presence of a Penneys store in the county town would be a huge boost to to the local economy.

Primark won't comment on 'speculation'

However, much as the company has done in the past, a spokesperson informed The Anglo-Celt: "We continually review opportunities for expansion of the Primark business however, as you'd expect, we don't comment on speculation about where or when we might open our next stores."

As for the job advertisement - it was a fake - and the company advises people not to engage with it.

"We have been made aware of a fraudulent job advertisement circulating on Facebook. This is nothing to do with Primark and we would advise people not to engage with this advertisement," added the spokesperson.