The shop was bulldozed with a stolen digger.
Lidl Ireland has reopened a new, multi-million Euro store in Fortunestown following its destruction in February during Storm Emma.
The shop opened for business on Thursday following four months of construction.
The rebuilt store is increased in size by 70%, meaning consumers will be able to enjoy ‘an outstanding shopping experience’, according to Lidl.
It also boasts 50% more parking spaces, additional tills and wider shopping aisles… sounds good to us.
Six people were arrested after the incident, which resulted in the store being looted, while attempts were also made to break into a safe that was stolen from the premises.
They failed to get any money from the safe but did irreparable damage to the store, which meant that it had to be demolished.
Following the incident, members of staff in Lidl were redeployed to other stores in the area. These staff members along with nine new recruits have now returned to the newly opened Fortunestown store.
When starting construction, Lidl said the new store would be more energy efficient than the previous store.
“The store will be built to the ISO50001 energy efficiency standard and incorporate features such as heat recovery, LED lighting, sensor controlled exterior sun blinds to reduce unwanted heat from the sun, and high insulation external cladding,” the retailer said.
They also thanked the support that they have received from the community since the original Fortunestown Lidl was destroyed.
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