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The owners of the Douglas Village shopping center in Cork have said they are scheduled to reopen on November 12.
The center has been closed since a fire caused millions worth of damage a year ago.
The fire at the Douglas Village shopping center broke out in the multi-story car park, seized them in minutes and caused damage estimated by their owners at more than 30 million euros.
The center was closed, putting many of the merchants who ran the 46 retail units out of business.
Vicki Creber says her business at the itso clothing boutique disappeared me.
Ms Creber told RTÉ News: “Today I have been closed for 12 months. My business was completely destroyed, disappeared.
“The impact from a physical point of view, from a mental point of view, has been heartbreaking.”
Ms Creber and her fellow merchants at the center never imagined that just a few months after the fire, they would have to deal with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and the closure it brought, delaying plans to rebuild and reopen the center. further away.
“Today I have been closed for 12 months. My business was completely destroyed” – @CreberVicki about the devastation of the fire @douglasvillage Mall #Cork on August 31, 2019. The center will reopen on November 12. More information @rtenews at 9 and here: https://t.co/3WUUKsSE7r pic.twitter.com/BjOYMdRHF6
– Pascual Sheehy (@PaschalSheehy) August 31, 2020
She said: “Having a fire and a pandemic in the space of a few months has been exceptionally difficult.
“Before the pandemic, we were making plans to go back in and start operating. We were working towards that, but obviously what happened in March was a big problem.”
Another merchant, Leonard Higgins, said he and his team at Leonard Hair and Beauty were housed at the nearby Chocolate hair and hair salon on Maryborough Hill, just outside Douglas Village.
Higgins says he hopes to return when the center reopens.
The owners of the center say it is scheduled to reopen in November, with all the main tenants, including Tesco, Marks and Spencer and TK Maxx, all signed up to return.
Douglas Village Mall General Manager Bartosz Mieszala said, “On November 12, we will be delighted to welcome our customers.
“This Christmas will be different from all the other Christmases we’ve had before.”
The fire is also the subject of a separate civil proceeding in the Commercial Court, and the owners of the shopping center sued for more than 30 million euros in damages.
Those procedures are not expected to affect the plan to reopen in November.
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