The British retailer has sought planning approval and plans to locate the cafe on a raised ground floor near the Duke Street entrance. It hopes to open the cafe by early September. Cafe Revive already operates at M&S stores in Cork, Dundrum and Mary Street in Dublin and at 186 other stores across the group.
To make way for the cafe, some childrenswear clothing has been moved to the basement level and situated alongside the store’s busy food hall.
M&S has had a busy 12 months in Ireland opening new stores in Blanchardstown and the Dundrum shopping centre and adding its 10th outlet earlier this month at the Frascati shopping centre in Blackrock. The company is planning new stores in Drogheda, Newbridge and Swords and is expected to be an anchor tenant in a proposed new €150m shopping centre in Athlone.
The company has described as “encouraging” the performance of its new stores in Dundrum and Blanchardstown, and said in its 2004 annual report that overall sales in Ireland were ahead of 2003.
The company doesn’t isolate its Irish results, but analysts estimate it has a 1.5% share of the €7 billion Irish grocery market.