Penneys has unveiled its extended and fully refurbished store at Dooradoyle in Limerick following a €7 million (£5.9 million) investment that has almost doubled the store's footprint to 24,600 sq ft, delivering expanded departments, upgraded facilities and approximately 30 new jobs at the site.

Fashion Network reports that the refurbishment, which follows a similar scheme at the Crescent Shopping Centre where Penneys trades as anchor tenant, has delivered larger womenswear, menswear and kidswear departments alongside wider walkways, in-store music, 22 fitting rooms and 13 new self-checkout tills. Total employment at the Dooradoyle store now stands at 135 people.

"This significant investment reflects our continued commitment to Limerick and follows the refurbishment of our O'Connell Street store last summer, meaning both of our Limerick stores have now benefited from major investment to deliver an even better shopping experience for our customers," said Fintan Costello, Head of Penneys Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The Dooradoyle project marks the latest step in Penneys' ten-year programme to invest €250 million across new and existing stores in Ireland, a commitment that also includes the development of a €75 million distribution centre in Newbridge, Co Kildare, scheduled to open later this year. The scale of that pipeline investment underscores the retailer's view that physical retail in Ireland remains a commercially viable and strategically important channel, even as the wider sector continues to navigate the ongoing shift in consumer behaviour towards online shopping.

Known as Primark in international markets, Penneys has operated in Limerick for over 40 years, making the Dooradoyle refurbishment a significant reinvestment in one of the retailer's longer-established Irish locations. The near-doubling of floor space positions the store to accommodate growing customer demand across its core fashion categories and reflects a broader pattern of major fit-out investment by value fashion retailers in Irish provincial cities.

The completion of both Limerick stores within consecutive years underlines the retailer's appetite for sustained physical investment, with the Dooradoyle scheme adding further weight to the case that well-executed, large-format retail fit-outs continue to deliver measurable commercial returns for operators willing to commit capital to their existing estate.