Revealed: Penneys plans major expansion in Cork 

Penneys on St Patrick's Street, Cork. The store has major plans for expanding its offering at the block it occupies. Picture: Dan Linehan

After a year of retail devastation, Cork City centre is set for a significant boost following confirmation that Penneys is planning a major expansion of its St Patrick St store.

The fast fashion retailer has confirmed to the Irish Examiner that, pending a successful planning outcome, it intends to increase its retail space by almost 50%, adding 17,000sq ft to its existing 37,000sq ft.

The good news for shoppers is that the store will not close during the expansion, which will take place on a phased basis.

A spokesperson for Penneys said: “We have embarked on the planning process to redevelop our Patrick Street store. If our application is successful, we will increase the retail space by 17,000sq ft to 54,000sq ft, which will bring an enhanced shopping experience to our customers.

“We will plan a phased building schedule to allow the store to remain open during construction."

"We have partnered with the O’Flynn Group to support on the planning and development process”.

The news comes at the tail end of a year that left the city’s premier shopping street reeling from a series of notable closures, not least British retail giant Debenhams, which closed its St Patrick St and Mahon Point stores, with the loss of hundreds of jobs. Debenhams, in the former iconic Roches Stores building, had been on the main street since 2006. Other losses to the city’s prime shopping district, either recent or pending, include Laura Ashley, Oasis, Eason, Argos, Warehouse, Quills, and Jack and Jones, raising deep concerns about occupancy rates.

Now however, having spent the best part of a decade assembling what is one of the single largest real estate ownership blocks in the city, Penneys is about to forge ahead with plans that will see it expand its retail offering along a substantial portion of the city’s main street, stretching from Robert Street to Cook St and from St Patrick St, back to Oliver Plunkett St, taking in the entire block in between.

Although Penneys now owns the whole block, some existing units will remain as individual shops, including those on Oliver Plunkett St and some units on Cook St. A number of units are already vacant, such as the former Specsavers premises and the former Ambassador restaurant. Other units within the block, such as Tiger, will stay put for now, as some are on short-term let arrangements.

In terms of how the new store will look, the St Patrick St facade will remain the same as it is protected. It’s listed in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as a “notable and positive addition to the streetscape”. Formerly the Munster Arcade, it was designed by Robert Walker for Robertson Leslie Ferguson, following the burning of Cork in 1920.

It’s thought retail will be spread over three floors.