26 October 2026
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
The new store features Lidl Ireland’s milestone 200th self service checkout as Lisa Jordan will cut the ribbon to officially open the store in the city on Thursday 29th October
Lidl Ireland has confirmed it will open the doors to its new state-of-the-art city centre store at Merchants Quay Shopping Centre on Patrick’s Street in Cork City on Thursday October 29th at 8:00am, expanding the retailer’s presence in Cork to 23.
Located in Merchants Quay Shopping Centre on Patrick’s Street in Cork, the opening marks a major milestone in the retailer’s expansion programme, breathing new life into a prominent commercial space that has stood vacant for nearly four years. The store opening represents an investment figure of €4.5 million and has created 23 new permanent retail jobs for the community.
Cork businesswomen and Influencer Lisa Jordan will have the honour of cutting the ribbon on opening day and meeting shoppers enjoying the opening day festivities. Lidl Merchants Quay will feature a range of opening day offers, with the first ten early bird shoppers receiving complimentary €20 Lidl gift vouchers to spend in-store.
Designed around Lidl’s modern store concept, the new retail offering boasts a spacious 1,530 sqm sales floor area optimised for city centre convenience with 16 tills, including 14 self service checkouts, marking the installation of Lidl’s milestone 200th self service checkout in Ireland. Customers can also look forward to enjoying Lidl’s popular in-store bakery offering fresh baked goods daily.
Ahead of the store opening, Tara O’Connor, Regional Managing Director for Lidl Ireland, said:
“We are delighted to open our second Cork city centre store in Merchants Quay Shopping Centre in the heart of Cork city. Lidl has proudly served the Cork city centre community since 2014, and this latest opening reflects our ongoing commitment and continued investment in our Cork city store network, following the extensive refurbishment of our Cornmarket Street store in March 2025.
“This opening is also part of a wider series of investments across the county, where we have continued to expand and modernise our store footprint, including recently granted planning permissions for stores in Mahon Point and Carrigtwohill . We are proud to continue to bring Lidl’s market-leading value and quality right to the doorstep of local shoppers, workers and visitors to the city centre. We look forward to welcoming the community through the doors of Lidl Merchant’s Quay on October 29th.”
Cork businesswomen and influencer Lisa Jordan added:
“It is a real privilege to join the Lidl team to cut the ribbon for this fantastic new store in Merchants Quay Shopping Centre. As a mum, value and quality are everything when it comes to the family shop, so having a second Lidl store right in the heart of Cork city centre is an absolute game changer. Lidl is already a firm favourite in the city with its popular Cornmarket Street store, and expanding into Merchants Quay makes popping into town for daily essentials or doing the weekly shop so much easier for local families, workers, and shoppers. I am delighted to be part of opening day and cannot wait to welcome everyone to this brilliant new addition for Cork city centre.”
Lidl’s investment in Merchants Quay contributes significantly to the broader local economy across County Cork, where Lidl Ireland procured over €136 million worth of goods and services from 120 Cork agri-food suppliers and business partners in 2025. Key Cork suppliers include Keohane Seafoods Ltd, which secured a €30 million contract with Lidl in 2025 to supply fresh, frozen, and ready-to-eat seafood products to stores across Ireland.
Lidl Ireland was named a ‘Top Employer’ by the Top Employers Institute in 2026 for the sixth year running. The retailer was also named #1 Value for Money Organisation in the 2026 RepTrak Ireland study, and was named Most Sustainable Retailer in Ireland in the RepTrak® Sustainability Index 2025.
Lidl Ireland currently employs more than 6,300 employees across its 193 stores, Head Office in Tallaght, and three distribution centres and regional offices in Newbridge, Charleville, and Mullingar.
Lidl Merchants Quay will be open:
Monday – Wednesday: 08:00 – 19:00
Thursday – Friday: 08:00 – 20:00
Saturday: 08:00 – 19:00
Sunday: 10:00 – 18:00
For further information, offers and career opportunities, please visit www.lidl.ie.