Lidl might be about to open a pub in South Dublin, a first for the German-based discount retailer, according to 98fm.
The chain is looking into the old Belgard Inn site, which it bought five years ago with the development of a new store in mind.
A Hospitality Unit
A line in the planning application reads; "In addition, the development includes four retail units (adaptable for a variety of commercial uses) and a public house”.
A spokesperson for Lidl told RSVP Live that "Lidl has confirmed there will be a hospitality unit on site”.
"There's no confirmation yet if it will be a pub or a restaurant, but there will be a hospitality unit,” they said. "It's still early days. The work won't be finished until spring next year."
Off-Shelf Activity
Lidl has been active in other industries outside of retail in recent months.
In July, the retailer was reported to be interested in developing more than 3,000 homes and a primary school in London.
The Guardian reported at the time that Lidl had been playing with the idea of developing houses since 2008, but to date, it has only built 335 homes.
In Ireland, Lidl announced plans to introduce electric car charging points at its newly built or refurbished stores. The discounter aims to provide 40 electronic charging spaces nationwide by the end of the year.
One of these selected sites is in Tallaght store, which is due to open its doors by the end of this month after looting during March’s blizzard forced the store to close.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
