Marks & Spencer opens in Navan

Hundreds of eager shoppers gathered outside Navan Shopping Centre on Thursday morning for the opening of the new Marks & Spencer store. Store Manager Sandra McKay cut the ribbon to the 30,000 sq ft store at 11am and special guest at the opening was Miss Ireland Sinead Noonan. Within minutes, the store was packed with shoppers keen to see M&S"s offering in its 19th Irish store and customers enjoyed a complementary glass of champagne as they browsed in the store. The large bright modern unit includes womenwear, menswear and childrenswear sections, as well as a food hall and cafe. The womenswear section includes the popular 'Per Una" and 'Autograph" ranges, a holiday shop, accessories, footwear, jewellery, a lingerie section and nightwear. Staff are trained to provide a fitting service for lingerie and specialise in fittings for women who have had mastectomies. The children"s section has many outfits for boys and girls and carries a range of quality school uniforms. Menswear has an large selection of formal and casual clothing for all occasions. The stylish food hall offers M&S"s popular ranges such as Cook! and Gastropub, along with its range of cooking ingredients for those who prefer to cook from scratch. Shoppers can also look out for the 'Wise Buys" range which offers M&S quality products at great value prices. Specially trained staff serve a wide choice of refreshments, including Fairtrade tea and coffee in an M&S Café. Sandwiches, hand-made baguettes, toasted ciabattas and delicious freshly baked pastries and cakes are also available. Jonathan Smith, head of Ireland, Marks & Spencer, said: 'We were thrilled to open our new store in Navan today and the response from our first shoppers has been very positive. M&S had been on the lookout for a suitable outlet in Meath so we are delighted to now be able to offer Navan customers the full range of M&S"s quality clothing and food products on their doorstep.' The new store employees almost 100 people between full-time and part-time members of staff. Manager Sandra McKay said she was amazed by the number of people who came along and laughed that you would think they were queuing for U2 tickets when she saw all the people queuing outside. 'I am just amazed. It is so clear that the Navan population were just dying for M&S to come along. We never expected this volume of people. Everyone was chatting and saying they were delighted to have us in Navan,' she said. Ms McKay added that the staff are all local and have been seeing lots of familiar faces. 'It is such a bonus to have this volume of people on our first day.' Customers were very impressed with the store and within minutes, the staff were ringing up the first purchases on the tills. Many customers commented that the opening of the store in Navan would save them from going to Blanchardstown or Drogheda to go the M&S. Pauline Clarke from Garlow Cross said: 'It"s brilliant that M&S has opened in Navan, It will save me going to Blanchardstown.' She commented that one of the things she likes about M&S is that you can get different lengths in the clothes. Arron Curran from Kenstown said: 'It"s fantastic and brilliant to have it in Navan. We won"t have to go to Drogheda now. It will keep people in Navan.' Aoife Egan also said it would save her from going to Drogheda and said it was a fantastic store. One of the first shoppers to emerge from M&S was Lily Fox from Skryne and because she was the first customer at one of the checkouts, she received a complementary bottle of champagne. June Byrne from Rathfeigh said: 'I really like it. I"m glad it"s in Navan and it will save me going to Dublin.' Margaret Oldigs, who is in Ireland visiting from Australia, was impressed with the store and said she wants M&S to open in Australia. Brian Tyrell from Silverlawn, Navan, said: 'It"s a beautiful store. I would usually shop in M&S in Dublin and it is a great advantage having it here. M&S is marvellous for picnic food.' Trish Ryan from Athlumney thought the store was 'fantastic', while her friend Ursula Johnson from Athlumney said the store was 'fabulous' and that there was a great selection.