Supermarket creates 110 jobs
110 jobs have been announced this week for Cork by a major supermarket.
Aldi made the announcement on Monday as it revealed that it plans to increase its minimum pay rate to €13.85, becoming the first Irish supermarket to introduce the new Living Wage from 1 February.
The new jobs follow a recruitment campaign for 450 people in November 2022 with all roles filled last year.
Niall O’Connor Group Managing Director, Aldi Ireland said: “We are continuing to reinvest in Ireland by creating and maintaining jobs throughout the country and adopting the minimum wage for colleagues.”
Also this week, Aldi unveiled its newly revamped and extended Douglas store following an overhaul worth €600,000.
Over the past 3 weeks the store underwent a complete refurbishment, including the building of a new extension, increasing the shop floor space by almost 40%.
The floor size has been extended from 925sqm to 1,286sqm, and features wide aisles and hi-spec fixtures and fittings. There are also 117 car park spaces available to Aldi shoppers, along with a bicycle rack stand that can house 10 bikes.
Speaking at the store re-opening, Goren Kierse, Aldi Douglas Store Manager said: “Our new and improved store is fantastic news for local shoppers! The spacious design means it is easier for Douglas customers to pick up what they need, and our aim is to ensure the very best customer shopping experience.
“Households and families in Douglas can now shop in our spacious new store, enjoying our range of great quality fresh produce, Irish ingredients and household products at value that just won’t be beaten. Our promise to our Cork customers is that we will never be beaten on price, and we will always provide the best value when they shop with us,” the store manager added.
The store has been designed, Aldi said, to be as environmentally friendly as possible, powered by 100% green electricity and featuring solar panels on the roof that will contribute towards the overall electrical demand for the store - powering items such as energy saving lights and Aldi’s new chiller fridges.
It also features the supermarket’s new electronic shelf labels in store in place of traditional paper price labels, meaning that stock or price changes can easily and quickly be communicated to customers.
Aldi said it has made a capital investment of €233.6 million in Cork since 1999 and its existing stores across Cork are “deeply involved in their local communities”.
To date, the stores have donated almost 302,000 meals to local charities through FoodCloud, saving the charities more than €380,000.
Each store is also part of Aldi’s Community Grants network, with Marymount Hospital & Hospice, Cobh Community Hospital and St Johns Ambulance Glanmire some of the several charities that have availed of the €500 bursary grant last year.