Munster Express Online

The British retail giant Marks and Spencer still wants to open its South East flagship store in Waterford despite recently announcing the opening of a smaller sized operation in Clonmel next year.

The Munster Express has exclusively learned that Marks and Spencer has already offered to open a second, smaller store in the city centre if it gets permission to trade on the Airport Road off the Outer Ring Road. The company has already carried out similar ‘two-store’ schemes in other areas such as Lisburn in Northern Ireland. It is understood the offer was made to the City Council in May of this year and the local authority is now carrying out a retail study.

Marks and Spencer has stated privately that the Airport Road site is the only one it is interested in and wants to become the anchor tenants in a huge €200m commercial development on a site acquired from the City Council for €45m by the Galway based Gerry Barrett of Edward Holdings Ltd. To be known as First City Quarter, the development on 30 acres would take five years to complete and would create and accommodate up to 3,000 jobs.

However, in order for the development to proceed, a rezoning of the site would be required to accommodate the food business of Marks and Spencer and, so far, the City Council has refused to do so as it is policy to protect business in the city centre.

Mr. Barrett is already responsible for the award-winning Eyre Square Shopping Centre in the Western capital, the Scotch Hall Shopping Centre in Drogheda and the landmark G-Hotel in Galway.

At last week’s meeting of the City Council, Councillor Mary Roche insisted Waterford hadn’t lost out on a Marks & Spencer store for the city. Anxious to debunk some of the theories floating around the city since M&S announced the opening of its first South East store in Clonmel, Councillor Roche said:

“Waterford has not lost Marks & Spencer. They have indicated that they have every intention of opening size-appropriate stores and we intend to facilitate them on an appropriate site.”

A spokesperson for Marks & Spencer told The Munster Express the company did not comment on speculation about prospective stores but added that M&S was ‘always looking for size-appropriate store