Staff at a Dunnes Stores grocery store have been left reeling with the unexpected news that the outlet is to close on October 31st.
It is understood that 27 staff are to be affected when the store on West Street in Drogheda, Co. Louth shuts its doors for the last time in over 50 years on the main thoroughfare.
The grocery is one of Dunnes Stores’ earliest outlets and its founder Ben Dunne had a close association with the town when he described his apprenticeship as a draper in Drogheda in 1926 as a ‘turning point’ in his life.
Most of the staff at the store have up to 20 years service and were said to be ‘shocked and disappointed’ with the news which was relayed to them by management on Monday.
RM Block
It is believed that staff have been told they could be redeployed to nearby stores at the town’s Scotch Hall and Colpe Cross shopping centres but they have had no further confirmation of this.
Employees say they are upset that a meeting was not called to break the news and answer any questions they may have.
It is understood that a meeting by union Mandate is being organised.
Meanwhile the store’s impending closure was described as ‘another blow to the town centre’.
Although Drogheda was recently included in the Living City Initiative, which provides tax incentives to bring vacant or underused buildings back to life, it’s ‘ten years too late’, according to spokesperson for the Drogheda Vacancy and Dereliction Group Dom Gradwell.
“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.”
Dunnes did not respond to a request for comment.
