06 November 2018

Cork has always had a very special place in the Dunnes Stores story with the successful and iconic family business founded by Ben Dunne in Cork in the 1940’s. Now there is a new chapter in the Cork Dunnes Stores story with a newly redeveloped Bishopstown Court store. This redevelopment of one of Dunnes Stores flagship stores offers a world class shopping destination with some of the leading Irish names in food, fashion and homeware all under one roof and all delivering on the Dunnes Stores promise of better value.

To celebrate this important chapter, the team at Dunnes Stores Bishopstown Court, in collaboration with the some of Ireland’s top designers and food producers are inviting the people of Cork to come to a very special Unveiling Weekend, which takes place from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th November.

As plans for the weekend are being finalised, Joe Duke, Manager, Bishopstown Court stated “The unveiling weekend is to say a huge thank you to our customers for their patience during the redevelopment and to showcase and celebrate this exciting chapter in the Dunnes Stores history together.” Joe added “Most people in Cork would be aware of the strong ties Dunnes Stores has with Cork, but there is also a very strong personal connection with the location, as Bishopstown native, Dan Barrett worked side by side with Ben Dunne Senior in setting up the business in the 1940’s. Mr Barrett, was a much loved business figure in Cork, and he worked with the Dunnes family for over 70 years. He would have been so proud of this world class store as well as the new vision we have for the business, while remaining true to our promise of better value, which has been instilled in all of us, since those early days.”

Already attracting customers from Cork and beyond is the spacious new concept Food Hall and hospitality area, which is now home to some of the leading Irish artisan food brands such as James Whelan Butchers, Sheridans Cheesemongers, Cork’s very own K O’Connell Fish Merchants and the Alternative Bread Company as well as leading delicatessen Baxter & Greene and coffee house Cafe Sol. Shoppers can now sample the very best that Cork and Ireland has to offer in terms of food retail, alongside the existing award winning better value offering from Dunnes Stores and with a choice of three cafe/restaurant offerings.

On the Fashion and Home side of the store, there has been a complete re-development, creating an inspirational space to showcase the vast array of fashion and home experiences for all shoppers and all occasions. The new experience merges the ‘always better value’ range of quality clothing and home needs of all customers with our exclusive collaborations with Irish designers such as Paul Costelloe, Lennon Courtney, Michael Mortell, Leigh Tucker, Carolyn Donnelly, Paul Galvin as well as homeware and gift collections from some of these designers and others such as Francis Brennan and Helen James.

In attendance over the weekend of 16th to 18th November will be some of Ireland’s top designers and food producers including:-

● Brendan Courtney & Sonya Lennon, who will be showcasing an Exclusive Sneak Preview of their Christmas Collection as well as giving styling tips on how to get Christmas Party Ready

● Michael Mortell will be giving a talk on the Changing Trends in Modern Home Furniture, and showcasing his new furniture collection which is exclusive to Dunnes Stores

● Carolyn Donnelly will be in the store to meet and greet her many Cork customers and will be chatting one to one with customers about her latest collections in fashion, homeware and gifts

● Paul Galvin will be showcasing his latest fashion collection

● Leigh Tucker will be also be in store, meeting shoppers and discussing her latest collection which is in store at present

● Peter O’Brien will be exclusively unveiling his latest design - a Black Silk dress and will be chatting to customers about fashion trends for 2019

● Paul Costelloe will be in conversation with Brendan Courtney, talking about his collection and meeting his many Cork customers

● Francis Brennan will be doing a special talk on Top Tips for Christmas Entertaining as well as meeting customers and doing book signings of his latest book “A Gentleman Abroad”

● Aileen Cox Blundell from Baby Led Feeding will be running a special workshop around baby led feeding as a way of feeding your baby and the entire family within the same recipe.

Throughout the weekend there will be a wide range of activities in the new state-of-the-art Food Hall, such as James Whelan Butchers who will be exclusively launching an exciting new product and Sheridans Cheesemongers will have some of their amazing Cork food producers exhibiting at the weekend for shoppers to meet and sample their products. The Alternative Bread Company will be organising special tastings as will Baxter and Greene and Nourish will have some of Ireland’s leading experts on nutrition and skincare appearing over the weekend.

Iconic Fishmonger, Pat O’Connell and his team are organising a series of demos to showcase the now wide variety of fresh fish, locally caught, that is available in his new shop in Dunnes Stores Bishopstown Court.

There will also be lots of kid friendly activities on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th and also plans for a very special person, Santa Claus and some of his elves, to call in to Bishopstown Court on Saturday 17th, to see the amazing changes to the store first hand!

More details on the exact schedule of activities and events over the weekend will be announced over the coming week and these will be will be available through Facebook in the run up to the very special weekend at www.Facebook.com/DunnesStores.