Jysk gets the green light for Blackpool retail store

International home furnishing retailer Jysk has received planning permission to open its fourth store in Cork.

Earlier this summer, the company lodged a planning application with Cork City Council seeking permission to open a new retail outlet in Blackpool.

The plans proposed the conversion of Unit 2 Block B in Blackpool Retail Park.

Cork City Council has now green-lit the application subject to seven conditions, which have not yet been published publicly.

Jysk currently has 21 stores across Ireland, including in Ballincollig, Youghal and Little Island.

Last month, the brand announced plans to establish a 50,000m2 distribution centre in Ireland, which they aim to have operational by the second half of this year.

Roni Tuominen, country director for Jysk UK and Ireland, said as Jysk’s store footprint and customer base across Ireland and Britain “continues to grow”, the company believes now is the right time to develop a “state-of-the-art logistics warehouse in Ireland to service this market and the UK”.

Mr Tuominen said: “The new warehouse will enable us to better serve our customers in terms of delivery lead times and stock management, as well as being able to increase the online assortment of product, especially mattresses in the sleep category.

“Stock will be delivered directly to the new distribution centre in Ireland, rather than via Denmark, reducing our carbon footprint in the process.”

The first Jysk store in Ireland opened in Naas in 2019, and since then Jysk has gone on to open 20 stores in towns and cities across the country, with plans to open another 10 in Ireland by the end of 2024.

The Danish retail chain, founded in 1979, currently employs 256 people in Ireland, and recently announced a recruitment drive to fulfill 100 new jobs at the company in the next year.