Screwfix has officially opened in Ireland with the roll out of its first three stores ahead of Christmas to support its online business Screwfix.ie.
The Sandyford and Swords stores have already opened in Dublin, with the Waterford store set to open this month. According to Screwfix's expansion plans there is the potential to open up to 40 stores over the coming years, creating more than 400 employment opportunities in Ireland with vacancies in retail management, service assistants and supervisor roles.
Each of the new stores will stock 10,000 products, from power tools and work wear to heating and electrical, with 24,000 products available to order online and over the phone for delivery and collection from store.
Screwfix CEO John Mewett said: "We're extremely excited to be launching Screwfix stores in Ireland to help tradespeople get their jobs done quickly, affordably and on time. The creation of bricks and mortar stores in Ireland is a major milestone for us and a direct result of the increasing demand from Irish tradespeople for our fantastic range of products.
"Our Irish customers are already committed to our Screwfix.ie website, but we know the convenience a Screwfix store provides their local town. We're excited about the times ahead and look forward to welcoming customers to our new stores."
Screwfix is part of Kingsfisher Group, which posted sales up 5% in the UK and Ireland in Q1 of this year, and total sales up 9.6%. And the firm shows little signs of slowing in snapping up new retail estate, now boasting 1,300 stores in nine countries throughout Europe, Russia and Turkey, with more planned for 2020 and beyond.
This growth is massive when you consider that little over a year ago Screwfix was celebrating the opening of its 600th store, showing the firm has more than doubled its bricks and mortar retail sites over the past year. Now, more than 650 of these stores are based in the UK alone.
