Flooded furniture store to reopen

Almost €1m worth of furniture will go on sale today as a furniture store reopens almost three months after it was flooded.

And Kieran Barry, who runs the two New Furniture Centre outlets in Cork — both of which were extensively damaged in the Jun 28 flood — promised lots of bargains at the Ballyvolane branch.

“There was never a question that we wouldn’t reopen. It’s more than a business. It’s our livelihood,” he said.

The New Furniture Centre was established over 30 years ago by Mr Barry’s father, Teddy, who is still involved in the business.

Teddy began with a 2,000 sq ft premises on Blackpool’s Watercourse Rd, and expanded it over the years to 40,000 sq ft.

The company opened a second outlet in the Lidl Retail Park in Ballyvolane, and today employs about 24 people.

But both outlets suffered over €500,000 worth of damage in the devastating flood.

Dozens of homes and businesses in Blackpool were flooded after an intense deluge overwhelmed culverts and drains in the area.

It was not the first time Blackpool was hit by floods, but it was the first time that Mr Barry’s premises was affected.

He believes the outlet in Ballyvolane was damaged by extensive run-off from neighbouring fields.

He said it has been a very stressful, difficult and slow process dealing with insurance companies and overseeing refurbishments.

“We had to deal with insurance companies and loss adjusters,” he said. “It was a process I was unfamiliar with.

“I’m a retailer. That’s what I do. But we just had to go through the process. We just kept our heads down, and got ourselves back up and running.”

The company kept its staff on the books throughout the refurbishments and the Blackpool branch reopened last week.

The Ballyvolane outlet will open at 12noon today with over €1m worth of flood-salvaged furniture going on sale.

Mr Barry said he is still in negotiations with his insurance company about future flood cover.