Retail in the Republic of Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, the retail sector provides an important source of employment and forms the majority of the teritary sector of the economy.

Supermarkets

The Republic of Ireland has two major supermarket chains: Tesco Ireland, a subsidary of Tesco plc with 90 stores, and Dunnes Stores, owned by a trust consisting of members of the family of its founder, Ben Dunne Snr, and boasting 123 stores (this number includes some stores without supermarkets, however). A third large supermarket chain is Superquinn, though this has only 18 stores, and is based mainly in Lenister. Marks and Spencer also operates a small number of supermarket sites.

The traditional multiple supermarket chains have been also challenged by the emergence of the Musgrave SuperValu supermarket format. These stores are operated mostly by franchisees, although several franchisees have built up large chains in their own right within the SuperValu group. There are now 211 SuperValu supermarkets in Ireland. SPAR and Londis have also branched out into supermarket format franchise stores, with their Eurospar and Londis Plus formats. As of yet these are a minority of stores.

While there is much competition in the supermarket sector, it is tempered by the presence of the Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order 1987 (known as the "Groceries Order"). This order makes it illegal to sell any good below the invoice price. The order was instituted to prevent a price war along the lines which led to the collapse of the supermarket chain H Williams in 1987. However it is held by many to restrict competition, and did not prevent the withdrawal of Roches Stores from food retailing and Iceland from the Republic of Ireland altogether, both in 2005. Its removal is opposed by the Retail, Groceries, Dairy, and Allied Trades Association, the newsagents and convience stores trade association, a powerful lobby group in Ireland.

Convience Stores and Newsagents

Convience store formats have been gradually displacing the traditional newsagent format in Ireland in recent times. The first convience store format was the VG format introduced by Musgrave in 1960, becoming Centra (and SuperValu) in 1979. Other major convience store formats include SPAR, owned in Ireland by BWG, and ADM Londis. Smaller convience store formats include XL Stop and Shop, Costcutter, and Vivo. A small number of symbol groups which provide branded goods, but not shop formats and signage, still presist, but are gradually dying out. These include the formerly promient Homestead brand.

Newsagents still exist however. The Eason chain of high street newsagents and booksellers is the largest in the country. In Dublin the two major local chains are Tuthill's and Bus Stop.

Department/Clothing Stores

The biggest clothing retailer in Ireland is Dunnes Stores, with 123 stores (some of these are food-only sites, however). Primark (under the Penney's brand) is also a major retailer in the clothing sector. Roches Stores also has a chain of major department stores in Ireland. Within Dublin, Cleary's and Arnotts are two major city centre department stores. Cleary's only has a small number of other sites (as "At Home with Cleary's"), while Arnotts owns the River Island high street chain.

High Street Retailing

In Ireland the high street is still a major draw, despite the growing number of out of town shopping centres. Most major British high street names now operate in the Republic of Ireland, such as Dixons, Next, Debenhams, Topshop, and others. In addition Ireland has its own high street brands, such as newsagents Eason, record stores Golden Discs, and others.

Shopping Centres

Out of town shopping centres, anchored by a major supermarket, have been developed in Ireland since the 1960s, with Dunnes Stores' Cornelscourt being one of the first. A precursor of the 1990s town centres was developed in Stillorgan in the late 1960s, as well as the two major Dublin city centre shopping malls, the Ilac Centre and Irish Life Shopping Mall. (These were joined in the 1990s by the Jervis Centre).

However in the 1990s a new phenomeon of large shopping malls, not dominanted by one tenant but with a number of anchor tenants, high street names, and usually a cinema, grew up in the Dublin suburbs. These four major town centres, in order of building, are The Square, Tallaght, Blanchardstown Centre, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, and Dundrum Town Centre.