Dunnes Stores is preparing to close three of its grocery outlets by the end of this month.
The first of the closures will take place tomorrow, with the shutdown of the small Cornelscourt Village store in south Dublin.
The outlet is located just a few hundred metres from the larger Dunnes supermarket in Cornelscourt Shopping Centre.
Two further stores are set to close on Friday, 31 October.
These include one of the two Dunnes Stores units in the Ilac Centre (48–50 Henry Street) in Dublin city centre, as well as the branch on West Street, Drogheda, Co Louth.
Reports of the Drogheda closure first emerged last week, with up to 30 staff believed to be affected.
It is understood that some employees from the impacted locations have already been offered redeployment opportunities at other Dunnes outlets.
The move comes despite recent industry data showing strong growth in grocery spending nationwide.
According to figures from Worldpanel by Numerator, Irish take-home grocery sales increased by over 6% in the month to October, with consumers spending an additional €67.6m compared to the same period last year.
Irish take-home grocery sales increased by over 6% in October. Photo:Leon Farrell Photocall Ireland
Dunnes Stores continues to hold the largest share of Ireland’s grocery market, accounting for 24.4% of total spend.
