Workers at a Dunnes Stores grocery shop are reeling from the sudden announcement that the outlet will close on October 31st, reports Breaking News.
Approximately 27 employees will be impacted when the store on West Street in Drogheda, Co Louth, shuts its doors for the final time after more than 50 years on the main street.
The grocery shop, one of Dunnes Stores’ earliest locations, held special significance for founder Ben Dunne, who called his 1926 draper apprenticeship in Drogheda a “turning point” in his life, reports Breaking News.
Many staff members, some with up to 20 years of service, were reportedly “shocked and disappointed” by the news, which management communicated on Monday.
It is understood that employees were informed of possible redeployment to nearby stores at Scotch Hall and Colpe Cross shopping centres in Drogheda, but no further confirmation has been provided, reports Breaking News.
Staff expressed frustration that no meeting was held to deliver the news or address their questions.
The store’s looming closure was labelled “another blow to the town centre,” reports Breaking News.
Despite Drogheda’s recent inclusion in the Living City Initiative, which offers tax incentives to revive vacant or underused buildings, Dom Gradwell, spokesperson for the Drogheda Vacancy and Dereliction Group, described it as “10 years too late.”
“If we had this years ago, there would be more people living in the town centre, more footfall and more businesses,” he said. “Dunnes Stores has been in West Street all my life and now it is another destination store gone, after we lost M&S last year. It’s death by a thousand cuts to the town centre,” reports Breaking News.
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