12 November 2020
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
- The anchor tenant in Douglas Village Shopping Centre – Tesco – reopens today
- The entire shopping centre had been closed since the fire 1 year and 3 months ago
Tesco Ireland will today welcome customers and the community back to its refurbished store at Douglas Shopping Centre after a year-long closure following a car-park fire in August 2019.
Tesco has invested €1.5 million in the refurbishment of Douglas and other store improvements in Cork this year this year. Originally built in 2009 and spanning over 55,000 square feet the Douglas store is reopening in line with the public health requirements of Level 5 restrictions.
Tesco has created 30 new jobs in the Douglas store, adding to the 100 colleagues who were employed there prior to the fire. Throughout the closure, colleagues were redeployed to other stores in Cork but have now returned to Douglas and have been working hard to ready the store for re-opening in line with Covid-19 safety protocols.
Getting ready for the re-opening
Colleagues from Tesco Douglas Shopping Centre pictured ahead of the reopening the store.
Colleagues from Tesco Douglas Shopping Centre pictured ahead of the reopening the store. Tesco has created 30 new jobs in the Douglas store, adding to the 100 colleagues who were employed there prior to the fire. Tesco has invested €1.5 million this year in the refurbishment of Douglas and other store improvements in Cork. Opened in 2009 and spanning over 55,000 square feet the Douglas store is reopening in line with the public health requirements of Level 5 restrictions.
Commenting, Dermot Hever, Store Manager, Tesco Douglas,
“We are thrilled to reopen our store at Douglas Shopping Centre today. Reopening under Level 5 restrictions is certainly a very different event than we might have planned, I’m delighted to say we’ve able to deliver a safe and easy experience for our returning customers.
I must commend and thank our colleagues who were temporarily re-deployed to our sister stores in Cork, and I know they’re all delighted to be back in the Douglas store serving the customers they know so well. They have been working hard behind closed doors for weeks preparing to welcome returning customers in line with Covid-19 safety protocols.
We’re also very thankful to our customers for their patience and support as we all work to respond to Covid-19, all the time reviewing operations to introduce measures to protect health and safety in line with public health advice. Customers can now return to shopping locally in the store in Douglas, knowing that their safety and that of our colleagues, is our number one priority.”
Tesco has worked hard to maintain a safe shopping environment for colleagues and customers. To help customers shop safely during the restrictions, Tesco has many measures in place at its Douglas store to implement its public health safety measures.
In place in Douglas and Tesco stores nationwide are:
- External queue management technology – a simple, accurate way of reducing queue times, supporting social distancing in store, and allowing colleagues to spend more time helping customers;
- Hand sanitising stations and trolley/ basket cleaning stations;
- Scan as you Shop technology to help customers have an even more efficient shop and manage their budget as they go;
- Graphic and audio reminders that colleagues and customers need to wear a face covering unless they have a reasonable excuse not to per the Regulations;
- Plexiglass screens at checkout areas – now at all available manned and self-service checkouts which helps protect colleagues and customers, so they feel more secure when checking out.
During the store closure, Tesco continued to support local good causes in Douglas with donations from its Community Fund. Across the course of the year, 18 causes were supported with Community Fund donations totalling over €6,000 to projects most affected by Covid-19, including Douglas Men’s Sheds, Community Association, Foroige Youth Café and the Community pre-school and play group. Throughout the course of the Community Fund, Tesco has donated €43,000 to over 120 causes in the Douglas area since 2014.
