Leading card retailer opens in Athlone

Card Factory has opened a new outlet in Athlone.

The new shop, selling cards, personalised gifts, balloons and party products, launched on August 6 last in Golden Island Shopping Centre in the town.

A leading specialist retailer in the UK where it has 1,000 stores, Card Factory is expanding in the Republic of Ireland, with new stores opening in Cork and Athlone among others.

Back in 1997, the brand's first store was opened by Dean and Janet Hoyle in Wakefield, North Yorkshire, and since then has gone from strength to strength over the following decades, with new stores opening every year. The business now employs over 8,800 people in the UK.

It's unclear at this stage how many new jobs have been created in local shop, but the company has been contacted for comment.