Tallaght sees creation of 70 new jobs

A TOTAL of 70 new jobs have been created in Tallaght.

Harvey Norman Ireland announced the creation of over 50 new jobs with the acquisition and development of a site for a new Southside store.

 The new outlet will be located in Airton Road Retail Park with construction scheduled to begin this October.

The announcement will see Harvey Norman merge five smaller retail units in the park to create a new flagship format.

This new store location sees the number of Harvey Norman stores in Ireland grow to 13 in the Republic of Ireland and two in Northern Ireland.

Lying derelict since 2008, the Airton Road Retail Park never opened and over the years the site deteriorated and fell victim to disuse.

 Harvey Norman plan to invest in the region of €6m in the project to develop and rejuvenate the area with a fresh modern retail development. 

The Airton Road store will boast almost 60,000 sq ft of retail space, a 250-space carpark, 42 cycle park stands and a Costa Coffee cafe.

As outlined in planning permission to South Dublin County Council, Harvey Norman will fund the creation of new access and road improvements to the Greenhills Road that includes plans to widen lanes, the provision of a cycle lane, right-hand turn lanes, traffic lights, pedestrian and cycle crossing points and traffic management systems. 

Blaine Callard, CEO Harvey Norman Ireland, stated: “We are so excited to be coming to Tallaght, and have been actively looking for a fifth Dublin site for some time. The existing location and buildings on the corner of Airton Road and Greenhills Road are perfect for this new huge Harvey Norman store.

“The store is going to be our best foot forward, with our latest shopfitting and interior design concepts.

“It will be a fresh and vibrant home centre showcasing the best of what we have to offer, and all at great value.

“I think people are bored with tired old electrical stores full of dusty shelves and old stock,” Mr Callard added.

“Instead they want interesting and exciting shopping spaces where they can see and buy the latest technology.

“In addition, we really feel that there is no beautiful furniture and interior stores on this side of town, so we think people will come a long way to shop in this store. It’s going to be amazing.”

Now 13 years in Ireland, the Harvey Norman journey has been challenging but today’s investment announcement cements the company’s commitment to the Irish market and plans for growth over the coming years. 

“We were always committed for the long term, and it’s great to be investing and expanding again now,” added Mr Callard.

Recruitment for the new Tallaght store roles will commence in the coming weeks. The available roles will include sales, cashiers and administration. Interested applicants are asked to register their interest at www.harveynorman.ie/careers.

Meanwhile, a new outlet in The Square in Tallaght will create 20 new jobs.

Brian Lee, co-founder and managing director of Chopped, the healthy food company, announced the opening of Chopped Tallaght that follows newly opened Chopped outlets across Dublin, in Westmoreland Street, Blanchardstown and Rathmines.

Chopped is on an aggressive expansion plan that will bring the number of Chopped employees to 320 by the end of 2016. 

Speaking at the opening of Chopped Tallaght, Mr Lee said: “We’re delighted to be opening our newest Chopped in Tallaght. This is the first time we have opened a store in a shopping centre and we are delighted to be in one of the busiest and most famous shopping centres in the country.

“This new Chopped will serve everyone in Tallaght from shoppers, to staff in the hospital, to students in the neighbouring schools and IT Tallaght.

“A lot of people told us we were mad to be opening in Tallaght, that it wasn’t the right market for us.

“They said that Tallaght wasn’t  into health eating enough to be looking for what we offered.

“However, we have had a soft opening in recent weeks and our produce has been flying out the door.

“We are thrilled that the people of Tallaght are proving the doubters wrong.”