The Dairygold Co-op DIY spin-off 4Home plans to invest €10 million over six months in opening four new stores.

The company is opening the first of the stores in Carlow this weekend. Three more in Macroom and Ballincollig, Co Cork and Ashbourne, Co Meath, are due to follow in the new year.

4Home plans to invest a total of €10 million in the expansion, which it believes will result in the creation of 100 new jobs.

Carlow will be its eighth store, and will bring employment by the company to 500 people. The expansion means it will have at least 11 stores operating next year, while job numbers will increase to 600.

4Home was originally established in 2004 as part of the shake-up at Dairygold, the north Cork-based co-op.

The group decided to rebrand and refocus its co-op stores, which supplied hardware, as DIY outlets to take advantage of the rapidly growing home improvement market.

Dairygold subsequently spun off 4Home as part of Reox Holdings, an unlisted plc consisting of the DIY operation, consumer foods and property.

Reox is 75 per cent owned by Dairygold's farmer members and 25 per cent owned by the co-op itself.

The majority of the members backed the move and the spin-off was completed in May of this year. Observers believed Reox had a total value of €200 million at the time.