Savvy

Competitors inside the Irish grocery trade is set to become a lot more intense following the disclosure by German discounter Lidl that it's searching for sites for greater than 60 additional stores on both sides of the Border.

The planned expansion is believed to be the largest by any from the main grocery multiples and coincides with indicators of a continuing recovery in consumer spending in the Republic.

Lidl is currently one of the biggest retailers in Ireland with 143 stores along with a additional 38 in Northern Ireland. The other German discount chain Aldi has 115 stores inside the Republic but does not trade in Northern Ireland.

Lidl has appointed CBRE’s Dublin and Belfast offices to Discover More key websites in cities and towns to facilitate the expansion. After opening its first retailer here in 2000, it expanded rapidly and "experienced unparalleled development all through their lifetime in Ireland," according to the business.

As part of the continued expansion strategy it says it is "looking to open further 60-plus shops on high profile sites with excellent visibility and accessibility."
Freehold properties
The ideal website will be two acres in size even though smaller sized plots of around one acre will likely be deemed in higher density urban areas. There is also a preference for freehold properties to accommodate shops ranging in size from 1,800 sq m to two,400 sq m (19, 375 sq ft/25,833 sq ft).

Florence Stanley, head of retail at CBRE Dublin, said that along with mounting a countrywide search for suitable web sites, they will be contacting neighborhood estate agents to locate the most effective company places.

"It might take a whilst to fulfil our commitment but if we handle to line up 60 web sites inside three years our client would probably be satisfied."

While the majority of the current Lidl properties have substantial parking facilities, the organization has also been capable to avail of smaller, well-located web sites by putting the retailers on stilts and utilizing the space underneath the building for parking.

1 such retailer is situated on the 1.14-acre former Sunday Planet website in Terenure which recently opened for enterprise.

That website was bought by a residential development organization throughout the property boom for €18.three million and was acquired following the crash by Lidl for more than €4 million.
Not good news
Tara Buckley, director basic in the Retail Grocery Dairy and Allied Trades Association, mentioned 60 discount supermarkets was not good news for Irish towns and villages.

A report by economist Jim Power had shown that a euro spent inside a locally owned shop was worth three times greater than one spent inside a British or German chain. At the finish of the day their income go back to Germany or the UK.

Lidl’s share of the discount market in the North has risen considerably over the years though surprisingly the company has not been challenged in that industry by Aldi. That company lately confirmed that its planned £600 million expansion inside the UK - it is to open an additional 550 outlets - will not include Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, Tesco continues to be mulling more than the extended delayed megastore planned for Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in west Dublin. It has denied it's to be abandoned just like 49 other supermarket projects within the UK.

Organizing permission for the retailer was granted by An Bord Plean?la in June 2016 and, according to an official spokesperson, the organization is "working via planning compliance with all the local authority and as such a commencement date for the improvement has not but been finalised".