Discount retailer Aldi has said that it is postponing the opening of its new €100m distribution centre in Mitchelstown, Ireland, following delays in the planning process.
Initially slated for a 2011 launch, the centre will now come online in 2013 after fewer Aldi stores were opened in 2010 than originally planned, the Irish Independent reported.
'The lack of planning permissions for the new stores is the only factor contributing to the delay in opening the new regional distribution centre,' the retailer explained.
The centre, which will create some 160 jobs for Mitchelstown in northern Cork, is a major part of the group's €350m Irish expansion drive, which initially aimed to create some 1,000 jobs and launch 35 new stores in the country by 2011.
