DISCOUNT retailer Dealz – a part of the Poundland empire – opened its doors to the public in December.

 
Coronation Street actress Katy Cavanagh who plays Julie Sharp in the soap officially opened the shop which is located in the former Woolworths building on Strand Street.

Dealz is an integrated part of Poundland, with the same board and management team, and was launched in the Republic of Ireland earlier this year.

Jim McCarthy, the chief executive of Poundland, said: "The Dealz brand has had a fantastic reaction in the Republic of Ireland and we are confident that savvy price conscious consumers in the Isle of Man will welcome a professional discount retailer.

"Poundland had a great year in 2010/2011 achieving record profits and opening 64 new stores throughout the UK and we're excited to see our continuing expansion with the new Dealz store in Douglas.

"We are delighted to bring the Dealz brand to the Isle of Man and thrilled to see that the shoppers of Douglas welcomed us into the community.

"Dealz offers amazing value on many household and branded products and we hope that local customers here will enjoy making us part of their weekly shop."

The Dealz store has 6,000 square feet of retail space and will stock more than 3,000 products including over 1,000 well known brands.

The opening of the new store has also created 45 jobs including 10 temporary Christmas jobs.

This story is part of isleofman.com's Review of the Year 2011.