Dunnes building is given new life
RETAIL LANDSCAPE AT RAFTER STREET SET FOR SHAKE-UP AS McCAULEY’S DUE TO OPEN SECOND OUTLET ACROSS FROM NEW GRANTS PHARMACY
HAVING been vacant for nearly 10 years, the Old Dunnes building on Rafter Street started its new lease of life yesterday (Monday) as the new Grants Pharmacy officially opened its doors. The new venture from owner Leonie Grant and her husband Martin Sinnott, the developer behind the Rafter Street site, has created a total of nine new jobs and hopes to bring a little bit more activity back to the heart of the town.
Leonie also stressed that their store in The Duffry is to remain open and that the support they had received there over the past seven years had given them the confidence to expand.
Grants faces competition from Sam McCauleys, which has announced that it is to open a shop directly opposite them on Rafter Street on December 3.
HAVING being vacant for over ten years, the Old Dunnes Stores building on Rafter Street has officially been granted it’s second lease of life as Grant’s Pharmacy officially opened their state of the art new store there yesterday morning.
There was a great buzz around the place as shoppers took a look around the newly fitted out shop, which provides a welcome alternative to the empty and dilapidated building it replaces.
A total of nine new jobs have been created within the new pharmacy, which will operate alongside of the one in the Duffry. Speaking shortly after opening the doors for the first time, owner Leonie Grant said that the reaction had been great so far.
‘ The reaction has been amazing so far,’ she said. ‘It’s been busy here so far and people seem to be impressed by what they see. I think a lot of people thought we were moving out of the Duffry. We’ve enjoyed over 7 amazing years of business in the Duffry. This confidence in Enniscorthy has allowed us to expand to a second location on Rafter Street.’
The new store features treatment rooms, a prescription hub and comfy couches where customers can relax while waiting.
Shortly after the plans for the new Grants store were announced, however, Sam McCauleys began work on fitting out a second shop just across the street. Signage erected last week informs passing shoppers that a new shop is expected in December, just yards from their existing store on Court Street. While attempts were made to obtain comment from the chain’s head office in Wexford on the matter, they declined to discuss the matter for the time being. However, it is believed that they are looking for an opening date of December 3.
Meanwhile, Leonie Grant says that she is not overly concerned by the immediate competition on Rafter Street.
‘It was very surprising from our point of view,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t seem to make a massive amount of sense to me. Who knows what’s going on? At the same time, we’re just going to focus on doing our own thing. We’re an Enniscorthy family and that’s what McCauleys was originally. We’re more than happy to take up that place of the local family pharmacy. Obviously, we look at our competition, but at the end of the day, we’re just going to focus on doing what we do well. We’re looking at creating a much more inviting space for customers and so far the feedback has been really good.’
Meanwhile, talks are still ongoing between Wexford County Council and Mr Martin Sinnott, Ms Grant’s husband and the de- veloper behind the Rafter Street site, regarding the relocation of Enniscorthy Library. While District Manager Liz Hore previously said that it’s early days in relation to the library project, Mr Sinnott says that he’s ‘confident’ a decision will be reached before Christmas. He added that a number of retailers had expressed interest in taking the whole building, however, it was decided to hold out for the library project before opening the remainder of the building to retailers.
Mr Sinnott said that Mosart Architects had been appointed to design a building that would be fit for purpose to attract retailers and accommodate the library. A number of different plans are being explored, but he says the hope is to lodge a planning application in January.