B&Q Ireland is opening three new stores this week at locations in Navan in Co Meath, Waterford and Letterkenny in Co Donegal.
The store openings follow the purchase by B&Q of three former Homebase stores for about €3.79m late last year.
The three new stores will employ 109 workers, 51 of whom transferred from Homebase.
After a revamp and rebranding programme, the first of the new stores opened in Navan Retail Park today.
B&Q Waterford will open its doors on 29 May, followed by B&Q Letterkenny on 30 May.
B&Q said the acquisitions build on its existing network and bring to 11 its portfolio of stores in the Republic of Ireland.
B&Q is part of home improvement company Kingfisher which operates more than 2,000 stores in eight countries across Europe.
John Eason, B&Q Retail Director, Ireland said the opening of the new stores was indicative of the confidence the retailer has in the Irish market.
“Opening three new stores builds on the success of our existing eight stores in Ireland and the continuous and growing demand for home improvement products and services nationwide,” he said.
B&Q first launched in Ireland in 2002 and now has 11 stores around the country – Galway, Athlone, Limerick, Naas, Cork and three Dublin stores in Swords, Tallaght, Liffey Valley and now Navan, Waterford and Letterkenny.
B&Q owner’s first quarter sales up by 1.8%
Meanwhile, Kingfisher has today reported a 1.8% rise in first quarter same store sales, with a strong performance in Britain, helped by favourable weather, partially offset by continued weakness in France.
The FTSE-100 listed group, which owns B&Q and Screwfix in Ireland, the UK and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other markets, said it was sticking with its full-year forecast for adjusted pretax profit of £480-540m compared to £528m in 2024/25.
Kingfisher said like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland rose 5.9% in the three months to April 30 but were down 3.2% in both France and Poland. However, the group said it won market share in all of those markets.
“Our UK banners performed particularly well, driven by strong seasonal sales and growth in trade and e-commerce,” chief executive Thierry Garnier said.
Sunny weather boosted overall British retail sales in April and households grew cheerier this month, according to figures published last week that suggested consumers might be a bright spot in an otherwise drab outlook for the economy.
But in France, data showed consumer confidence hit a five-month low this month as concerns about the economy and unemployment surged.
