A SUBSTANTIAL extension to Laois Shopping Centre in Portlaoise which will include enlarged stores for both Tesco and Penneys opens to the public next Tuesday.
The enlargement also includes three levels of car parking with 1,200 spaces which will be available free to shoppers. A new pedestrian entrance has also been completed to link up with the Kyle Centre, where Dunnes Stores is the anchor.
The new Tesco Extra store will be triple the size of the existing unit and will extend to 8,175sq m (88,000sq ft). The single level store will be open 24 hours a day and will stock not only food but clothing and electronics.
Penneys will also be a beneficiary of the expansion, moving from a store of 1,486sq m (16,000sq ft) to one of 4,459sq m (48,000sq ft). Tesco and Penneys are likely to be paying a rent of between €193 and €215 per sq m (€18 and €20 per sq ft).
Pat Doherty’s Harcourt Developments has spent close to €65 million on the redevelopment of the Portlaoise centre, which will have a retail area of 24,618sq m (265,000sq ft) when completed next November compared to the present layout of 8,686sq m (93,500sq ft).
The centre will have a further 14 shop units in addition to the three new anchor stores. When trading fully, the complex is expected to provide employment for up to 700 workers. Pat Power of Harcourt Developments said that while the Laois centre had been trading successfully for almost 20 years, they expected that the significant footfall already recorded would be strengthened even further as they drew customers from a much wider catchment area. Karl Stewart of letting agents DTZ Sherry FitzGerald said they would shortly be announcing the names of new traders who would be moving into the centre.
