Birthday celebrations for Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer will celebrate 15 years in Killarney on Saturday.

Over those 15years, the store has grown from strength to strength and has contributed to the town’s retail offering by offering its customers M&S Food, clothing and Café.

The Killarney stores employs approximately 60 directly and indirectly and half of those working in the store have been doing so since the first day the store opened.

M&S Killarney has always found time to help the many charities in Killarney and around Kerry which have benefited from fund raising and donations down through the years, such as the Irish Community Air Ambulance, Irish Heart Foundation and Pieta House.

Store manager Paul Daly said: “It has been a real honour and privilege to serve the county and the local community over these past fifteen years. I have worked in retail for 37 years, 13 of which in this store and I cannot wait to see what the next 15 years will bring.

We have achieved so much and celebrated many accomplishments over the past several years, to name a few, we received an outstanding achievement award from ‘Business in the Community Ireland’ for the commitment we have given to the community and a local secondary school.

We were also recognised by the 'Killarney Looking Good' committee for all the work that we contributed throughout the area.

“We have seen so many changes from the first day we opened our Killarney store. Retail has changed so much in fifteen years, not to mention thirty-seven years. You must evolve and change, as retail is a fast-evolving environment to work in. We meet the needs of our customers in Killarney everyday through innovations such as our Sparks loyalty programme and Scan & Shop to offering great customer service to all who come to our store.

I would like to thank all our customers, for all their support, custom and loyalty over the past 15 years. Let us see together what the next 15 years will bring.

The celebration will include a live Radio Kerry broadcast in-store, face-painting and other children’s activities from 11am."