23 January 2023
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
5 new jobs created bringing new staff total to 28
ALDI has unveiled its newly revamped and extended Douglas store following an overhaul worth €600,000. Over the past three weeks the store has undergone a complete refurbishment, including the building of a new extension, increasing the shop floor space by almost 40%.
Featuring ALDI’s exciting award-winning Project Fresh layout and design, the floor size has been extended from 925sqm to 1,286sqm, and features wide aisles and hi-spec fixtures and fittings. There are also 117 car park spaces available to ALDI shoppers, along with a bicycle rack stand that can house 10 bikes.
The store has been designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible, powered by 100% green electricity and featuring solar panels on the roof that will contribute towards the overall electrical demand for the store – powering items such as energy saving lights and ALDI’s new chiller fridges. It also features ALDI’s new Electronic Shelf Labels in store in place of traditional paper price labels, meaning that stock or price changes can easily and quickly be communicated to customers.
File photo of ALDI Store, Douglas, Cork from November 2021. The store only opened in June 2021 (see TheCork.ie article here) and was so busy Aldi performed a refurb in late 2022/ early 2023. Pic Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision
Speaking at the store re-opening, Goren Kierse, ALDI Douglas Store Manager said: “Our new and improved store is fantastic news for local shoppers! The spacious design means it is easier for Douglas customers to pick up what they need, and our aim is to ensure the very best customer shopping experience.
Households and families in Douglas can now shop in our spacious new store, enjoying our range of great quality fresh produce, Irish ingredients and household products at value that just won’t be beaten. Our promise to our Cork customers is that we will never be beaten on price, and we will always provide the best value when they shop with us.”
ALDI’s Investment in Co. Cork
ALDI has made a capital investment of €233.6 million in Co. Cork since 1999. ALDI is the best paying supermarket in Ireland and currently employs over 850 full-time staff across the county.
Community Support
ALDI’s existing stores across Co. Cork are deeply involved in their local communities. To date, the stores have donated almost 302,000 meals to local charities through FoodCloud, saving the charities more than €380,000. Each store is also part of ALDI’s Community Grants network, with Marymount Hospital & Hospice, Cobh Community Hospital and St Johns Ambulance Glanmire some of the several charities that have availed of the €500 bursary grant last year.
In addition to supporting local charities, ALDI is the first retailer in Ireland to commit to planting 1M native Irish woodland trees by 2025, in collaboration with Green Belt.
Supplier Support
ALDI currently partners with 30 Irish food and drink producers across Co. Cork and spent €70 million with its Co. Cork suppliers in 2022. ALDI is committed to growing its Irish supply base and increasing the number of locally produced Irish products available at its stores. Last year, ALDI spent €1.1 billion with its Irish food and drink suppliers.
ALDI has invested more than €8 million in its Grow with ALDI supplier development programme since 2018, which offers up-and-coming artisan Irish food and drink producers the chance to have their products listed in ALDI’s 155 stores.
Employment Opportunities
The opening of the spacious new store has meant the creation of 5 new permanent jobs. ALDI now employs over 850 colleagues in Co. Cork alone.
With market leading salary, career progression possibilities and a whole host of other benefits, now is the perfect time to start your career with ALDI. We are actively recruiting for upcoming store openings and have fantastic employment opportunities for Store Assistants and Store Management to form part of our ALDI team. Find out more and apply today at www.ALDIrecruitment.ie
The Douglas store opening hours are
Mon to Fri: 09:00 – 22:00
Sat to Sun: 09:00 – 21:00